Anime Dreamer
by RaeAdnan
Summary: Azralea's life is one, big, crazy fuck up. And that's BEFORE she purchases a poster from an occult shop in rural Japan. Afterwards, the fuck up gets even weirder as she's catapulted into feudal Japan, straight into her favorite anime and at the mercy of her favorite character, demon lord Sesshomaru. Oh, geezes.
1. Chapter 1

**okay, warning. this is based on a dream I had, and in truth, this story is really, REALLY old. I wrote it several years ago and it has been sitting idle on my desktop in storage for ages. so if it seems amateurish compared to my others, that's why. in a way, I'm proud of it due to the state its in regarding the time period I'd written it in. given, I was not as good at writing in character as I am now, so Sesshomaru acts really, really weird most of the time, but it was just a fun little story I actually completed and I wanted to share it with my readers and other fans. just enjoy and remember, all great accomplishments started ****_somewhere_****.**

**anyway, MOVING ON!**

I have the weirdest name you could probably ever give a baby girl. I wasn't a Tamera, Bethany or Elizabeth; Vicky and Holly weren't enough for my parents; Alexandria wasn't pretty enough; Alexei didn't come close to unique. No, my folks were so hot-wired to unusual that my name sounds like a hotpot pedigree: Azralea Surianna GoldWisp Halo Kallira Athens; A. S. G. W. H. K. A. I've been called Alzheimer's and Alcoholics Anonymous when I use my first and last initials and even the captain character off Halo the game. And yes, my last name is Athens like Athens, Greece, no joke.

My life has not been easy because of my parents' ingenuity, and even worse because of their bad habits of drinking, drugs, etc, and bruises are the least of my worries, yet I'm happy. If anything, the thing that keeps me from going crazy is anime. I lose myself in it so as to preserve what part of my brain is yet to be damaged by my life. I'm timid, so I get pushed around easily, even though I go to martial arts classes (which I'm horrible at) and archery (not _so_ bad) but bad teachers are most of the problems with my learning curb.

It was only recently that we moved into our rinky-dink house and I started going to public school; my folks were tired of spending time home-schooling me when they could be getting knocked up or drunk down. Wonderful, aren't they? So, sixteen and behind in my studies (thanks, dad, thanks a lot), I had a lot to make up and little time to do it; third quarter was not the place to slack off. My life is spiraling out of control; I have so much stress on me that only by dropping my bag and opening a manga can I hope to preserve that little wisp of personality that is me. Otherwise I'll be a purebred stepping stool.

Okay, since we're on the subject, I'll tell you: my favorite anime of all time is _InuYasha_; OMG, bishi central. I love a lot of characters, but if I could be, I'd be _in_ love with Sesshomaru, the kick-ass older brother of Inuyasha. Naraku is okay, he's got miasma, and Kikyo has priestess powers, but Sesshomaru can turn into a freaking kick-ass dog demon! Don't get much better than that, especially since if he got out of line I could just whap him with a rolled up newspaper (joke, he'd kill me). Plus, he's hot and has this fluffy thing that can kill you! Totally _not_ gay! But I hate Kagome. Hate her, hate the bitch! I found a video on YouTube which expresses the very reasons Kagome is pathetic. Zayane from ZayaShuku speaks the truth. Amen, sista.

So, yeah, that's me in a nutshell. Other than the fact my mom is a Japanese descendant from a long, supposedly-well-respected line of priestesses; I see no respect at all. Yet, I hardly look Japanese; if anything, maybe American Indian from my dad, but I'm pale as a westerner with big, black eyes and long, black hair.

But despite everything horrible that could happen to me, and has, I think in the end it was worth it. Why? Well, think of Kagome. If you know the series, you know she falls in a well, travels through time and ends up in feudal Japan, right? Okay, I live in a small town in Tennessee, no well anywhere for a few square miles. I'd finished doing the crap ton of dishes for the night once more as my parents happily snoozed in the living room, buried under a mountain of beer cans and bottles. They don't think my anime habit is worth anything since it takes from time I could use to cook or something so I have to sneak stuff in; like they even notice. This time it happens to be a special-order poster straight from a small shop in Japan; the guy who sold it to me said I should be careful what I wish for when I told him I really wanted it because it had a sweet-ass picture of Sesshomaru on it.

I asked why and he said it was because wishes sometimes come true. Uh-huh... Oh, well, I got my poster. It went right next to my headboard and I couldn't help but kiss two of my fingers and then tap them on Shi-shi-sama. Ah, yes, life is good when you have bishies. But of course, karma is a factor in everyone's life; I don't know if she likes me or hates me.

It was night, the next day was Saturday. I was cleaning my room, looking for the TV remote for my dad, even though I told him it was probably under the couch like last time. Okay, well, apparently I'd left a cord for my radio out and tripped. This being right next to the wall, I was expecting to hit my head and black out, but you know what? I pulled an Alice in Wonderland and fell _through_ the wall, my poster specifically, dropped through a shower of lights and hit the ground. Boy did gravity hurt.

My dad was a pervert, so I was dressed in a ridiculous old-fashioned brown inn-keeper's dress and said it made me look cute. I knew otherwise; it was so he could see the underwear he made my mom buy me. That said, the heat of the day, even though it was the middle of winter back home, really got to me but I couldn't move because I freaking hurt everywhere! And even if I couldn't look around, I knew something somehow: I was not on earth or in the same dimension. How I know this, I'm not completely sure, but my vision faded to a pair of familiar-looking cloth shoes and a fuzzy-thing.

When I woke up a little later, I was perfectly fine. No aches, no bruises, no nothing. I'd landed behind a little stand of trees near a stone wall covered in ivy. My heart was pounding as I circled around them, looking carefully for anyone or anything while also observing the area I was in. A large, stone wall surrounded a small but spacious courtyard with trees in the corners and a pond near a big, extravagant building that seemed rather modern but with an air of ancient. A cluster of bushes along the far wall brought shelter because I saw some movement in the building and ducked behind the shrubs.

Right into a cluster of small animals in helmets with weapons who were discussing battle tactics.

"Yeah..." I muttered to myself when they saw me and stopped. "I really hit my head hard."

"Who're you?!" a badger announced, pointing a small spear at my face. "I've never seen you here before."

"Um, I'm Azralea?"

"Lies! I know no 'Azralea'!"

"Well, maybe because I'm not from here?"

"Ah-ha! I knew it!"

The bushes should be big enough to hide me so I sat on my knees and looked down at the little assortment of critters; badgers, foxes, mice, birds, hedgehogs, rabbits, even a turtle. "Uh-huh..." I've gotta be dreaming...

Pinch.

Nope. "Look, I'm really sorry about dropping in and everything, I didn't mean to." Small or not, those spears they were all aiming at me looked like they could hurt. "I just wanna know where I am."

"How could you _not_ know where you are?" one of the rabbits asked, hopping closer and keeping level with my eyes.

"Because I fell and blacked out."

"You are in the home of the renowned Lord Sesshomaru, son of the great dog demon. We're trying to take him down for reasons we can't disclose to outsiders."

"Um, right," I muttered, "I just wanted to know where I was." I don't recall ever seeing Sesshomaru's living quarters or anything in the anime and with the glowing white light instead of sky, I figured he was telling the truth; a living dimension like what Naraku does with his castle. No wonder Inuyasha could never find him.

But this doesn't explain _how_ I ended up here in _Sesshomaru's_ place from _my room_. I really must've hit my head and gotten a concussion. It was right about now that one of the birds asked what I was doing here. "Well," I started, scooting closer because I saw my toes peeking around the bush, "I was cleaning my room and tripped, fell against the wall and either hit my head or fell into some parallel dimension."

They discussed amongst themselves whether I was telling the truth and I heard one say, "It could be that. After all, didn't that Kagome girl fall through time?"

"Yes, but another _dimension_? Highly unlikely."

"Almost as unlikely as falling in a well and ending up a thousand years in the past?"

The badger leader snipped, "Not the point! Even if she's a time-traveler or a dimension crosser, we can't trust her! For all we know she could be one of his minions come to trick us!"

Next thing I know, before I could convince them I was harmless, I got thrown over the bushes during a charge at none other than Shi-shi-sama! I must be fragile, too, because the impact really jarred loose a few bones since I hit the wall before the ground. "Ow..." I hissed.

"Jaken," a deep, calm voice said directly above me, "take care of our little rodent infestation. I have something more pressing to deal with."

It was me. It was so the freak me.

...

Yup.

Painful as hell, but I rolled to my side and pushed up with one arm to stare at Sesshomaru in all his demon glory, watching me with careful, yellow eyes. I always hoped there was a side of him deep down that was merciful toward my kind (humans, that is); he had Rin, right? Though obviously she wasn't here now. Still, I tried to plead to him as best I could given the fact I probably had a rib or two giving me a hernia. Grabbing his pant leg with my hand, I rasped through a very dry (awful fast) throat, "Please... help me..."

"I did once already," he told me, which explains my fade-out earlier, "but those without the power to keep themselves alive have no place in this world." Three swords and the one he reaches for is one that can kill me. Bakuseiga. Great.

I'll say something now: I'd confirmed with myself that if I ever met Sesshomaru, I'd definitely be afraid of him, but the reason I'm afraid of him is the very reason I love him.

If that made any sense, tell me now. But basically, I love the cold, distant side of him; the merciless killing, the unnatural hate for his brother, not to mention he looked good doing it too.

Drawing the blade with a long, soft hiss, I saw the power transformation (though I don't recall this either in the anime) and on impulse, made a grab for it. _Please! I don't wanna die!_ He didn't move, probably thinking my attempt to stop him was futile, but in a flash (literally) the sword was back to normal. This caught his attention and took his gaze from me to his blade, giving me the chance to try and prevent him from using the other deadly weapon. I grabbed that one next and felt the aura around it disperse, though it was only a temporary thing, and then dropped down because the pain was getting to me. I grabbed the Tenseiga and slipped to the grass, catching it glint a purple color before closing my eyes.

There was another sound of metal sliding out of its sheath and I was expecting the slice to make me go white, but instead I felt a cold sensation which became warm very quickly and all my pain disappeared. _Tenseiga_... I thought as his voice registered again in my ears.

"Jaken, finish up here. I have something important to take care of." And then, of all things a fangirl could hope for, he picked me up. He picked me up! I'm small, 5' 6" and very light, and compared to him I was even smaller, and through the surprisingly delicate fabric I felt the muscles developed over I-don't-know-how-many decades of training and fighting.

And two arms. Hurray Bakuseiga!

Go figure. May as well enjoy it as I go and not sneeze; that fuzzy thing tickles! The interior of his house-thing was a mix of modern and classical; there were couches and armchairs in some rooms but also some futons and other older Japanese things, but nothing electric or gas powered. There was a stone, wood-burning stove in the kitchen and other Japanese-style appliances, but no TVs, computers or even outlets; the light came from windows and candles and the occasional glowing ball, but no light bulbs.

The room he took me to had a large bed, a small couch closer to the far wall and a long, not-very-comfortable-for-sleeping-on couch right next to the bed, just off the foot and a window with a sit-in to look out into the whiteness; it may seem stupid, but staring into nothing can be quite peaceful. The carpet in this room was soft and white and made gentle sounds as he stepped and there was nothing on it from what I could tell.

_He's very tidy, isn't he? _I thought while peeking around through my eyelashes.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru's voice suddenly said, "stay here with the girl in case she wakes up. I'll return shortly."

"B-b-b-but sire," the toadie (lol) stuttered, "even if she gets out of the dwelling she cannot leave! There's no way out except with your lordship!"

"She got in some way, no doubt she can get back out," he stated.

_If only..._

"Now stay with her until I return or I will kill you." God, I wish I could've seen his face when he said that! Death threats are what make him so irresistible!

But currently all I can do, unfortunately, is pretend I'm passed out and hope Jaken doesn't decide to finish me off right now; I wanted to know why Sesshomaru was taking pity on me, I didn't do anything. Too bad for me, staying still meant listening to Jaken complain. "Why does m'lord want her anyway? Aren't I enough? And what's taking this girl? Even that Rin child woke up faster." He sighed. "That child was at least tolerable and useful, until that incident. If only he'd been able to reach her, lord Sesshomaru could of saved her, but alas, those rocks were too many and the ravine deep." That explains things.

A few musings and a prod in the side later, Sesshomaru came back. He shooed Jaken away to check on the animal rebellion before focusing on me. "He's gone, you can open your eyes now. I know you're awake."

I did as he said; best not invoke his wrath now of all times. Next, I sat up slowly, watching him carefully, our eyes locking on accident, but he wasn't in a violent mood. Despite that, my habit of recoiling from a stare kicked in and I shrunk up, breaking his gaze but not letting him out of my sight. Carefully, I asked, "Why'd you save me?"

"You negated my swords," he said plainly. I peeked around at him more. "No normal human can do that. You also activated the Tenseiga and penetrated my barrier. I let you live out of curiosity, nothing else."

Like I was expecting something else. "Well," I said quietly, "if you're going to try and get the reasons out, don't; I don't even know myself. I ended up here by accident and the swords, well, I was just desperate to live. It was an impulse." This moment I realized why he'd left earlier.

This being his house, he could actually relax around here so he had no use for armor or weapons. The Tenseiga and the other two blades were gone, the fluffy thing was gone and his breastplate and ring guards were missing. Without them, the front of the kimono he wore opened down the middle and revealed part of his chest and the upper portion of his abs. He'd even swapped his poofy (pajama) pants for slacks. It took all I had not to blush, though I don't think it worked anyway.

"An impulse that can dispel the power of a demon of my caliber? You are aware of who I am, aren't you?"

"Of course." Out of respect more than anything, I bobbed my head. "You're lord Sesshomaru. How can I not know about you?" Something bugged me about understanding each other but just being here made anything I thought of seem plausible.

His careful glance hardened for a moment before he turned and motioned over his shoulder. "Come."

I did.


	2. Chapter 2

The dojo was located in the middle of the first floor. It had white walls, yellow wood in the floor, small palm trees of some kind in each corner and multiple scrolls hanging off the walls. A cabinet along the door-side wall most likely held the weapons, sharp and clean, because I doubted this guy had need of practice armor and bamboo.

We'd removed our shoes just outside the door and he motioned again for me to stop in the middle of the floor as he went to the cabinet. I hoped I didn't have to fight him, I'd die before I could say 'uncle'. Plus, fighting in an innkeeper's dress was like fighting in a maid outfit. Flashing is not my favorite past time.

"Wh," I started but my voice caught and I had to clear my throat, "what're we doing?"

He pulled a katana from the cabinet, slid it part way out with a glint to inspect it before putting it back. "You intrigue me." I blushed. "There's something I want to verify, but in order to do that I need to fight you one-on-one."

I meeped.

He turned his head to me part ways and quirked a brow.

_He's so cute..._

"Wh-what do you need to know?"

He stopped staring and I sighed. "Nothing you can tell me, obviously. You said it yourself." Panic, panic, flutter, panic. "Do not fret, I won't kill you." I heard a 'yet' in there some where. "I simply wish to test your skills. Feel free to use any weapon at anytime and fight any way you wish. If there's even the slightest chance you can hold your own against me, then I won't kill you." There were a lot of implications in there but I wasn't going to say no. Who knows? Maybe if I can get in close I get him to his knees with that 'women's self-defense class special move' I'll get through this,though he might get pissed and kill me anyway.

But that's a risk I need to take if I'm ever going to get out of here.

Sesshomaru had chosen a medium-length katana and stood across from where I was, nodding toward the cabinet without looking away from me and started doing something as soon as my back was turned. Fearing a sneak attack, I kept my guard up and looked through the assortment of practice weapons. There was an out-of-place scabbard in one corner and when I pulled it out, recognizing the curved hand guard and slender forge, I knew it was a rapier for fencing. I took some lessons when I was really little from a friend of the parents of a kid I played with at the playground and was pretty good, though I haven't practiced since I was home-schooled since neither of my parents had any practical skills.

The only problem I really saw was how well eastern and western sword techniques would clash. But upon turning around I saw another fatal problem. Sesshomaru had no shirt on! If I wasn't in such shock I'd of dropped my sword, but my grip was so tight my knuckles were white. He must of shed it to allow for optimum movement and to keep me from doing something dirty by yanking on his sleeve to throw off an attack or something.

Now that this image has been burned into my mind, I will be distracted so easily he'll kill me in one swing. Unless I don't look at him, but if I do that I won't see what he's going to do. I probably couldn't anyway, but this really lessened my odds.

"Are you ready?" he asked as I crossed back over and stood in front of him, head down to avoid staring.

"Yes."

"Then get ready."

This whole thing still confused me highly, but when I saw him shift into a wide-legged guarding stance, katana running perpendicular with his shoulder and torso angled away for less striking room, I stepped into a back-ready stance, free hand on my hip, rapier held loosely in my grasp and pointed at his throat. I know it takes a lot to kill Inuyasha, so Sesshomaru will take even more, therefore I don't need to hold back because a strike to the throat or chest that could kill a human would just otherwise annoy him. That said, I don't need to worry about anything as long as I keep my distance and hope he doesn't cheat by using his poison claws.

"I'm ready," I said quietly, putting myself into an alert stage so I didn't have to look at him unless I had to. My teacher from so long ago said I had instincts like that of a well-blooded swordsman, and I was just a kid; a little practice and I'd be unstoppable. God, I hope so.

I closed my eyes so my ears were sharper and listened as the weight on the floor boards shifted. A small creak, nearly inaudible, to my right and the light breeze that ruffled the tiny hairs on my exposed skin pulled my arm back and around, a diagonal block making a loud clang as metal clashed with metal and the wisp of strength I'd had at one point quivered under the maintained power of the demon I was fighting.

"Very good," he mused, jumping back and skidding to the other side of the room.

My technique was different, in a sense. Yes, there was rhythm and balance, but in different proportions. I sword dance more than sword fight, but the techniques in a dance can be deadly if applied properly to a fight. The only downside: no music for me to dance to. I have a good memory though, so hopefully I can 'play' a song and still pay attention enough not to lose my head.

"Alright, now come at me."

I waited a second, listening for him to shift, breathe, ready...

I sprinted forward, just off to his right like he did to me, eyes still closed so I wouldn't get distracted, and touched down lightly on the ball of my left foot, swinging my right arm in a hook behind me to twirl in order to release some of the extra momentum. Curving my hand that held the rapier so it was at my left hip but the tip still pointed up, I listened for the puff of breath that signified his spotting me which allowed my senses to pinpoint where his mouth was, thus allowing me to locate his head, neck and shoulders. I thrusted blindly at this point since I was only guessing and felt my blade go up after another loud clang, meaning he'd used an upward block.

At this point I was compelled to open my eyes and saw I had just barely missed, Sesshomaru's palm flat against the face of his own blade to keep the guard from slipping.

"Not bad," he said, but something in his voice sounded off. "You're fast and accurate but not cocky. Hard finding someone like that these days."

_Yeah, I wonder_, I thought. "Um, thank you?"

With a quick movement, he pulled the katana up and back so I had to twirl out of the way before he could use that move to attack me. Once more, my eyes closed and we continued to fight until, a few lucky hits later, he caught the tip of the katana in the space between the guard and the handle and flipped the rapier from my hands, getting it stuck in the ceiling above our heads. I whipped my head up for a second to see where it went and had to back flip away when his next attack meant to decapitate me.

I ran to the cabinet once more, knowing I had only a few seconds before he recovered from that swing to grab another weapon so I went for the first thing I could get my small hands around: a bow and _one_ arrow, nice. Still, I turned and shot it, Sesshomaru only just stopping it from piercing his forehead, but a white-yellow light blasted the katana from his hands in the process so he was also weaponless and obviously surprised at what just happened. This bought me another three seconds to grab the medieval flail—no, not a flail, it was a spiky ball on a long chain. Even better, it was long range.

The floor boards creaked as he came at me so I whipped around and launched the ball at his feet, catching a lucky break when it coiled around his ankle and whack him in the other leg, making him hit the ground. The next thing I had was a staff and, adrenaline pumping through me, I jumped him when he tried to stand back up and he landed heavily on his back, hands grasping the ends of the staff while pushing up as I tried to get the staff to press down on his throat. Even if he was stronger than me, I had three key advantages from this position,ignoring the fact that if he wanted, he could see right up my tattered and utterly useless skirt now. The first was I was on top. Bearing down on him, I was able to use my weight to my advantage. Now, it's clear he's able to lift me easily, almost too easily, because I was 98 pounds, but the second advantage was gravity. Not only was it pulling my body down, but also his arms, thus it would exhaust him faster than me. The third came from my knees being planted on his shoulders, cutting off some otherwise-essential movement needed to put his full force back against me.

My black hair hung in sweat-covered tendrils around his face, beads rolling across both our brows and cheeks. "You're better than I anticipated," he panted. I'd never seen Sesshomaru actually break a sweat in a fight before.

"So're you," I replied, smirking. During this little scuffle, I'd felt something deep inside me stir. I don't know what it is or if it's dangerous, so I want out of here before it breaks free.

...

Hold the phone... Um... I kind of blushed once I realized something. Rerun what we just said and how we said it, take this position into account and...

This distraction gave him the much-needed lull in my force to flip our positions so he could bear down on me next. Now he had two of the advantages I did, replacing the third with the fact the staff was already on my windpipe, and many more: my lack of upper body strength, the fact he was, like, 6' something, 150+ pounds and covered in demon-powered muscle, the shirtless factor, plus I was exhausted already and cut up from not dodging that katana in time.

Also, the very kinky-ness of this position, itty-bitty me under great, big him, made for some very distracting thoughts.

"Ngh..." I grunted, trying my hardest not to suffocate.

"Nice try," Sesshomaru told me, leaning forward to push more weight down on me, as if it wasn't hard enough already. "Got any other tricks up your sleeves?"

One. "I didn't want to do this," I uttered, one eye closed, the other winking open so I could see what I was aiming for. "I hope that self-defense class paid off."

"What-"

I kicked him.

He made some kind of pained sound before falling sideways onto the ground and curling up in a shaking ball. "I never thought I'd have to do that..." This gave me the opportunity to stand up and get ready for another attack but first he had to get up. When he tried, I brought the end of the rod down on the little nub at the base of his neck, the one just above the shoulders. The impact jarred his arms and he hit the floor again. _I could actually win this_, I thought hopefully as my eyes caught sight of a small slot at one end of the staff. "Hm..."

There was a sound and I jumped. If I hadn't, the force of the blow to my legs would of broken my shins, but the unbalanced tilt of my body allowed the blow to just knock me over. The wind got knocked out of me when I hit the ground but I was still able to roll away when a very forceful punch splintered the wood where my head had been. I jumped up, sucking long breaths of air and Sesshomaru rose, also breathing heavy and stooped over, most likely still smarting from that kick I gave him.

One thing came to mind when I saw the opening he provided so I took a swing at his head; he ducked. I stopped the momentum and reversed to catch him blind when a soft _shing_ drew my black eyes to the scythe head now sticking out of the slot in the staff.

_Oh, so _that's _what that was..._

I stopped again, Sesshomaru watching the scythe just like I was. I knew a decapitation could kill him, so it was the last thing I wanted to do, but it obviously spooked him. The distraction was enough for me to try a running kick—which actually worked—and send him to the ground again. This time, when I went to hit him, I used the blunt end of the staff-now-scythe and went for his throat. But, unlike last time, I landed right beside it, his hand instinctively grabbing hold of it to stop it from letting his throat cave in, but the expression drawn across his features told me he was impressed and that he'd let me live—for now.

When he said so, I was so relieved that I dropped my weapon and relaxed, only half aware that I was sitting on him, not the floor. He sat up next, probably not bothered about my sitting on him since it was only a matter of standing up to get me off, and rotated his shoulders, popping them loudly and making him grunt with a strange expression on his face.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly, reaching forward but quickly dropping my hand.

"I will be," he breathed. "As soon as my back realigns."

Did I do that? "I'm so sorry." Curse my crybaby habits; I was tearing up. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I was just trying to-"

"Trying to prove yourself so I wouldn't kill you," he finished for me. "Which you did, so stop crying before I change my mind." That's as nice as he's going to get, I bet.

He gently placed one hand on my shoulder and the other brought my face up to see him. If I didn't know better, I'd say this was the point one of us would kiss the other, but if I did he really would change his mind. So instead, I just quietly said his name, the shojo instincts I gained through reading too many chick books kicking in just in time for Jaken to walk in grumbling about annoying vermin, spot us and immediately start to get flustered.

"L-l-l-lord Sesshomaru, wh-wha-wha-what's going on here?!" he exclaimed. "Don't tell me this human girl has-"

And he was up, so fast I didn't have time to land on my feet. Instead, my ass broke the fall and I moaned in pain as the dark lord that was the very essence of Sesshomaru came back and he evenly said, "Nothing is going on, Jaken. It was a spar, nothing more, now get away before I kill you." He didn't shout, but the very way he said it made it echo.

You know, actually, Sesshomaru never shouts. But I bet if he did it'd give Jaken and I _both_ nightmares.

The toadie ran off whimpering (I don't blame him) and I felt the fearful respect I held my little Shi-shi-sama in return so I scooted as far from him as I could, which was to the wall a few inches behind me. I was shaking from head to foot, afraid he'd turn his now-foul mood on me, but when he went to figure out where I went, I saw he was calm, too calm, especially when he did see me and closed the space I'd made with just a few steps.

"Sorry you had to see that," he said quietly, carefully, while holding his hand out to me.

Okay, _now _I was confused. Still, I took what was offered and he pulled me up quickly and easily. "Why're you being so polite now?" Oops...

He blinked once as it dawned on him but brushed it off with, "I may be evil, but that doesn't mean I can't be polite when it's called for. It's the gentlemanly malevolent ones you need to watch out for."

I believe that. "I get that, but why me?" I currently haven't realized he still had hold of my hand. "I'm just a human. You hate humans. And at the most, you barely tolerate other demons."

"Not true." Then he released me and I looked down at my still-warm hand, a pink blush running across my face. "There are some I respect, but they are few. Most are dead anyway. And what if I told you that you weren't human?"

I gasped a little in surprise, head shooting up to lock gazes with him. "What do you mean?"

He turned his back on me and walked out.

"Hey! I was talking to you!" It was an impulse to run out after him but a skill to break just in time to smack into his back, which barely made him falter, but he did turn around, mouth partially open and brows creased, a little annoyed from the sudden contact, so I took a step back. "Sorry."

All he said was, "You got in here," before pointing back to the room I'd been in before. The little hallway along the side of the house branched into the one we were in which led to the dojo door, and then thinned out to spread through the rest of the first floor. I followed it to the back where the open door to the living room (no better term came to mind) was but a tug on my hair stopped me and I turned as the last of it fell away from Sesshomaru's hand where it was suspiciously close to his mouth.

This both disturbed and intrigued me, but mostly disturbed, so I hurried into the room and shut the door, not noticing the single strand of black hair still grasped in my captor/host's claws.

I did notice I'd shut myself in with Jaken, though.


	3. Chapter 3

It's been three days. The odds of my parents calling the cops are slim, but the teachers were bound to notice and report it, so there must be some kind of search out for me. Too bad they'd never find me in a million years. But I kind of like it here. I didn't have to cook or clean if I didn't want to because this place was self-preserving, making my life no more complicated than wondering what was going on.

Yesterday I was locked up inside with an interrogation with Jaken who was determined to hear me say I wasn't just sparring with Sesshomaru, though I wouldn't, and said lord had disappeared for the day so I had no one to go to in order to shake off the little toad so I was stuck listening to him ask questions while I wandered the house.

Today, I was sitting on the hard couch, Jaken watching carefully with one eye and I fidgeted under his gaze.

"What's your problem?" he barked. "Can you not sit still?"

"Well," I started, trying to bite my tongue against saying something he wouldn't like, "it's just, I've been here for three days."

"So? You don't seem to want to leave and neither does lord Sesshomaru so what're you complaining about?"

"I'm not complaining," I assured him, hands up. "It's just I fought him two days ago and have been inside all day yesterday and now today so I'm covered in sweat and dirt. I was going to ask Sesshomaru where I could take a bath when he came but he hasn't shown up yet." Jaken didn't like my informality toward Sesshomaru, but it didn't bother his master so he didn't complain audibly.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Somebody's cranky today. "I was hoping you'd realize your overbearing human stink had grown worse before you suffocated me." He really got under my skin, but when he hopped up and led me to an indoor bathhouse in the center of the first floor next to the dojo, I hugged him before running into the changing room.

"Oh, a hot bath is exactly what I need right now," I sang to myself. Still, I hadn't seen Shi-shi-sama (I'll probably never say that to his face) all morning so the odds of him being in here were high in my mind, though he could just be out doing something again. But with this thought in my brain, I poked my head in first and saw the rocky furnishings making the bath feel like it was outside and also made for good hiding spots in case he were to come in and I was still here.

The water was a foggy white, meaning it was a milk bath and was good for the skin and served to hide anything that needed to be hidden. I stepped into the water and it swirled around my ankles, knees, hips and then waist as I waded out. I let the warm water drift through my hair as I felt it clean away all the grunge I'd built up and sighed happily, dipping my head back when Jaken popped in holding my tattered dress.

"I don't think you can wear this again so what should I do with it?" he asked.

I screamed and whirled, splashing water at him. "Jaken! You pervert! Go throw it away!" The water hit him and he squealed, running out.

I was barely calm before another voice from the other side of the bath said, "Is that wise if you don't have any other clothes to change into?"

My body lock and my blood ran cold. With slow, jerky movements, I turned my head and saw Sesshomaru leaning against a rock, arms propping him up while he watched me with no particular expression. I tensed, ready to scream again.

"Please don't, the frequency you hit hurts my ears."

WTF?! I didn't see him when I came in! Where'd he—the water! It's white and thick so he must've been under the water when I came in!

"Wha... wha... what're you doing here?"

"This _is_ my bath, you know."

Duh .' I made an embarrassed noise and shot my arms into the water to block anything I didn't want him to see.

"Don't worry," he closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the rock he was against, "I haven't seen anything so quit with the spaz attack."

Funny. He sounds like his brother right now.

"By the way," he sounded closer and when I decided to look he was, about half as far from me now as he was a second ago, "to save you from imminent embarrassment, I found a kimono in about your size. It's in one of the baskets in the changing room."

"Um, thank you," I told him and saw him come a little closer. "Stay away please!"

"I won't hurt you." Sesshomaru brought his hands out of the water to show he didn't have a weapon hidden on him or anything.

"That's not what I mean," I whined, trying to put more space between us, scrunching up even more. I'm a C-cup, and on a person my size it seems bigger, so it's not like I have anything to be ashamed of, really, but I was in a bath with a man! And I'm a virgin so it makes it even harder to keep my cool!

"Okay, just calm down," he said gently. "I'll back away, see? I just wanted to know if you wanted help washing your back, is all." He acts so strange when Jaken isn't around.

"Well," I muttered, "if it's a back wash I guess it's okay."

"Fine, but you have to wash mine next."

I figured he'd say that.

We moved to the shallower part of the bath so we could sit and I did my best to keep my 'parts' out of sight (thank God for long hair) and noted how Sesshomaru's silver-white hair swirled and almost disappeared into the milky water and his pale skin was just a few shades off itself, so it was like he was a water sprite or something and it made me giggle.

"Did that tickle?" he asked, and in a way he sounded amused.

"Hm? No, I just thought of something funny," I told him.

"Care to share?"

"Er... not really, it's personal."

"Oh, I see."

...

"I know you probably won't give me a straight answer to this but..." Why was he starting the conversation? "How _exactly_ did you get here in the first place?"

I sighed, shoulders heaving. "Okay, I'll tell you, but you'll think I'm crazy."

"My brother hangs around with a mortal girl who falls through a well to travel across the span of a thousand years, try me."

I snorted. "Well, Kagome and I aren't that different in that sense. I _am_ from the future, but a different future. I come from a world where everything here, you, Jaken, Inuyasha, Naraku and everyone are just part of a popular comic called _InuYasha_ which everyone I know loves. I was one of those people, and I had a lot of stuff based on it; posters, comics, DVDs." He must be lost at this point, but if he was he didn't say. "My parents are alcoholics," I muttered, "among other things," before getting louder, "and didn't really like my hobby. So I snuck a lot of stuff home, and one happened to be a poster I specially ordered from a shop in modern Japan."

"I'm with you so far," he told me when I paused.

"See, I'm from America, way out across the ocean. I bought that poster because it was one-of-a-kind, and it came with a weird warning. I didn't really believe the man who sold it to me, so when I tripped over a cord and hit the wall, I thought I'd only bump my head, but instead I fell through the poster and landed in your yard."

"You know," he paused his scrubbing, "if I hadn't met Kagome, I'd say you were crazy, but now this is actually believable."

"I think the fact I'm from a long line of priestesses on my mother's side doesn't help."

"You are?"

"Yup."

"That explains a lot..."

"What?"

The rag left my skin, dipped into the water and then he held it in front of me. "My turn." I didn't get an answer because we sat in silence the rest of the while until I rubbed across his upper shoulders and he flinched. "Be careful."

"Are you hurt?" I couldn't see any open sores or bruises.

"No, just sore."

"From what?"

"When you smacked me with that scythe." I must of hurt his pride because it rang with a depression, even if it wasn't evident. But he was honest at least.

"Did you try moving your shoulders after I hit you?"

"No, because it hurt too much."

"Then your muscles must of locked up and gotten stiff."

"And how would you know?"

"I had a horrible childhood." Let him interpret that however he wanted, I was a little more concerned about him at this point. "I can help you."

"How?"

"Apparently I give excellent back rubs."

"Okay, if you think it'll stop this ache. It's driving me crazy."

Funny. You don't show it.

"Just not here."

"Okay." I finished scrubbing his back when he said he was going to get out so I turned around. "I'm going to stay a little longer."

"That's fine, but when you're done, meet me in the court yard."

Huh? "Um, okay..."

I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I went outside like I was told, wearing a soft, indigo kimono with a maroon obi once I found it.

It was quite mobile and fit rather nicely for a guess, but I wasn't complaining; it was better than the inn-keeper's dress. Much better.

Sesshomaru was where he said he'd be, waiting in the courtyard. He had all his armor on, including his fuzzy thing, so my bad feeling wasn't too far off. When he saw me, I noticed the careful, guarded look he wore and it made my stomach knot even worse.

"What's going on?" I asked, putting some space between us.

"Due to reasons I can't say right now," he started, eyes flicking to the patio I'd found while I wandered yesterday (still wondering how I'd missed the bathhouse) where Jaken was watching, "I have reason to believe you are not completely human. I want to test that."

0.o' "Hold on a minute!" Last time he wanted to 'test' something it almost killed me. "Test what?!"

"I will explain later, for now, just don't die." Then he attacked. He wasn't using his swords, he was using his freaking demon powers! No fair!

Leaping to the side and landing heavily on the ground, I screamed, "Are you crazy?!" at him. Of course, he didn't reply because he was coming at me again and I had to run to the other side of the yard. _Yeah, he's crazy. What do I do?!_ Suddenly, he was beside me. I couldn't respond in time and he grabbed me by the throat and held me well above the ground, back to the wall. "How am I not supposed to die if you're trying to kill me?" I choked, grabbing futilely at his hand.

"Find a way not to die. It'd be a shame to actually kill you, but it's the only way to be one-hundred percent sure of things."

"Of what?!"

Nothing.

I was blacking out, but as I did, I heard music playing in my head.

**Ba-da-da-bup-ba-da-da...**

**There used to be a graying tower alone on the sea**

**You became the light on the dark side of me**

**And I've remained the drug that's high enough to hear**

**And did you know that when it snows**

**My eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen?**

_Azralea, I know you can hear me now, _a voice said to me. I saw a glowing, white light in the darkness that had engulfed me, and in it, I saw myself, only I wasn't myself, I was an angel with small, white wings and a flowing dress.

"Who are you?" I asked stupidly.

_I am you, _she replied without moving her lips. _I am the power you've inherited from your family. Generations ago, when priestesses were needed less and less, your family began to disclaim their birthright and eventually they forgot they even had power, but now you can unlock yours. Centuries of building up have changed it and concentrated it. Have you noticed that no matter what, you never got angry or thought of killing someone?_ I nodded. _It's because you are as close to divine as a human can be. A priestess among priestesses. I believe that now you can take control of your birthright and use this power, but I tell you, even if you use it for evil, something good will always come out of it._

If I had to guess, I'd say she said that because of my love for Sesshomaru, who happens to be evil.

But power is used depending on it's wielder, there's nothing that can stop that. Being said, I was only here to make sure your body could handle things first before giving it to you, but first you have to accept it. Will you?

"Of course!"

She smiled. _Then prepare yourself._ She separated into eight points of light, each taking the form of an animal, four of which were black, one was brown, one blue, one dark blue than the last was multi-colored.

**Baby, I compare ya to a kiss from a rose on the gray**

The blue butterfly came first.

**Oh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah**

Then a black cat.

**And now that your rose is in bloom**

A black snake with a black widow hour glass and a rattle.

**A light hits the gloom on the gray**

A bat.

**Ba-da-da-bup-ba-da-da...**

A raven.

**There is so much a man can tell you**

A brown thing I wasn't sure about.

**So much he can say**

The phoenix (it caught fire upon entry).

**You remain my power**

The dragon.

**My pleasure**

My whole body glowed white from the inside out.

**My pain**

I regained consciousness in time to see Sesshomaru step back, eyes wide and a smirk playing across his lips. My feet weren't on the ground so I looked and sure enough, I was floating.

And glowing.

Two transparent wings, just longer than my arms when curled, extended to my sides and explained the floating thing, but I could tell the sudden surge made my body weak and when I floated to the ground, I couldn't stand right away.

Sesshomaru walked over and knelt beside me, brushing his fingers gently across my cheek. "Are you alright?" I could see Jaken behind him freaking out.

"Yes."

"Can you stand?"

"I think so."

He stood and pulled me up, watching me with no particular expression on his face; he wasn't cold or careful, but not happy or curious either. "Sorry for the rough play, but I had to see if it would trigger something."

I rubbed where he'd grabbed me, lower lip sticking out. "I'll live, but don't ever do that again."

"No promises."

Jaken recovered enough by then to run down and demand an explanation, changing Shi-shi-sama's look from neutral to his version of annoyed. While they talked, I checked to make sure there were no other alteration to my body or injured areas. I had the habit of snapping my fingers when I stretched, so while rolling my wrists, I clicked them both at the same time and two explosions went off, one on the top of the wall next to me and the other at Jaken's feet, sending him flying.

I exchanged a glance with Shi-shi-sama before clicking my fingers again, but nothing happened. "Aw..." I continued trying to get another explosion to go off with no luck when a shimmer behind me made me take note of my lack-of wings. They may be gone, though, but something told me there was a way to see that I still had them. To check, I peeked down the back of my kimono when the boys weren't looking and saw a shiny, gold pattern like wings on my back stretching from the tops of my shoulders to just above the small of my back.

While we went back to the living room, I continued to try different ways of snapping my fingers while Jaken continued to demand an answer for what happened to me. I could tell Sesshomaru was getting annoyed and I will gladly explode the toad into another room as soon as I figure out how. Regular snaps won't work, but I know I snapped my fingers when I stretched...

Jaken jumped to get closer to Sesshomaru's face at the moment I rolled my wrist and snapped my fingers. He went flying into a separate hallway.

"Oh, so _that's_ how I did that," I mused, grinning happily while the toad grumbled and wandered off.

Sesshomaru had removed his armor and fluffy thing on the patio and joined me in the living room. He'd asked if the offer of a back rub was still good because the fight was taking its toll on him now so I said of course (ain't no way I'm giving up this opportunity) and had him lay on his stomach on the bed I never used. He'd said the first night (no sunset, it just gets dark) I could use it, but at the time I didn't want to for obvious reasons. But the last few days I could tell I wasn't as shy as I had been when I first came. I spoke up and didn't stutter when talking to him, didn't care what I said to Jaken unless I wanted a favor out of him (like the bathhouse), and my respectful fear of Sesshomaru was more of just a respect now. It was like I was coming out of a shell.

Either way, I rolled the sleeves of my kimono up and then climbed up onto the bed next to him. "Um, I'm going to say this now: I'll have to sit on you to do this right."

"Go ahead," he replied, arms crossed under his chin after he removed his shirt.

Halleluiah, praise Jesus!

I was giddy as a school girl. And for obvious reasons. "You know," I started while swinging my leg over his waist (kinky), "you could of told me you were trying to awaken some dormant power within me through a fight instead of making me panic like you did."

"But listen to what you just said." His voice was muffled by his arm. "I'd sound crazy to you."

"I fell through a poster, I'll believe anything right now." I brushed his hair away so I could see where I was touching clearly.

"Besides, the shock was necessary."

"How?"

"Shock therapy is something I heard about and how it triggers unusual things in people."

They had that way back then—er, now?

I pouted even though he couldn't see it. "Your idea of crazy must be different from mine." For a moment, I thought he chuckled, but he doesn't chuckle, never have, never will. Though he _was_ pretty out of character when I was around and Jaken wasn't...

Nah.

There was a stretch of three somewhat silent minutes as I started my massage at his neck, making sure I hit all the proper pressure points at all the right times. The 'somewhat' part comes from the very quiet but still plain moans of pleasure Sesshomaru was making as I worked. His natural reaction to contact from another person had made his muscles lock up but after a moment or two he was like putty.

"God damn, you really are good at this," he sighed, which had to be the _strangest_ thing he's ever said. Period.

"Heh," I blushed, "thanks."

Quiet, quiet, quiet.

"Er..." my host suddenly uttered.

"What?" I asked, moving my thumbs down along the inner edge of this shoulder bones.

"Somehow I've completely forgotten up until now that I don't recall ever hearing your name."

I paused. "Wow, you're right. Must be because you've never had to use it. I always know when you're talking to me."

"Probably. So what is it anyway? Not that I care, I'm just curious." Ah, his famous line ^^

"Azralea," I said, grinning sheepishly, waiting for his response.

... "Interesting," was all he said. That's a first.

"Really?"

"Yes." He nodded, turning his head to the side and closing his eyes. It was quiet again for a while as I kept rubbing, feeling the well-sculpted muscles of his shoulders and deltoids against my palms, and the flow of their power made me shiver pleasantly. It wasn't until the silence was five minutes and counting that I heard through the quiet what sounded like slow, even breathing.

"Oh, my God, you didn't," I moaned. "... you did." He was asleep. "Honestly, just like that? Have you _been_ sleeping at all?" I said to myself; it's a habit since I had no one to talk to most of the time.

Now I have to say, my following actions occurred from curiosity and nothing else. I didn't think it'd be good for my reputation in Jaken's eyes if he saw me alone in a room with a sleeping Sesshomaru so I prodded my crush's jaw, just under his ear which made him twitch but not wake. Next, I got as close as I dared and whispered, "Sesshomaru," in his ear but still nothing. So I continued to poke him from the jaw, down his neck and back to his side, trying to see if there was a spot that would wake him up. And I found it, by thunder; a little nudge where his rib cage curls back into his body because the layer of muscle was stretched over it in a way so that it's not completely outlined. It's also a sensitive spot on a normal person's body, but this one was hyper-sensitive.

The minute I touched there, he shot up and around to sit, knocking me sideways because I was in the perfect position to do so, so I hit the ground on my back. I hissed, "Ow..." when the next remotely OOC thing happened: Shi-shi seemed to of misjudged the width of the bed and slipped off the edge right on top of me. This time I loudly announce, "Ow," which he moaned in response to.

"Did you have to do that?" he grumbled while pulling himself off of me.

"Well, sorry," I muttered back, waiting until I had room to sit up, "but I didn't think it'd be wise if Jaken used his bad timing to walk in on you sleeping and me sitting on you."

On his hands and knees, Sesshomaru gave me a stare like 'that's the best you could come up with?' and sighed. "I can see your reasoning, but prodding me is unnecessary, you could of left."

"Right," OMG, I'm going to talk back to him (!), "and have Jaken interrogate me about how long you'd been asleep and what I was doing at the time."

He shifted his weight back more to his knees, hair falling off his left shoulder until it brushed the floor near my face, which turned red because he showed no signs of moving from this position. At least until I saw his eyes dart down, followed by him uttering, "Um, I think your kimono is-" but I looked down at that instant and saw my wardrobe was indeed coming off because you could see more breast than what you were supposed to and I screamed on reflex.

Sesshomaru rocked back off his hands so that they were free to plug his ears while I shot up into a sitting position, scooting back and pulling my shirtfront closed. "I told you not to do that because it hurts my ears," he said coldly, glaring at me like he does when Jaken is around. Speaking of which, he would of heard that scream and will burst in any minute now to see if I was being murdered or not.

I felt a little hurt because of Sesshomaru's attitude change but something clicked into place and I got a Kagome-swing; I stood up quickly and marched toward the door and when he asked I said, "I'm going outside," but not the way Kagome would; unlike Inuyasha, who needs Kagome, Sesshomaru kept me because he was curious, and curiosity can die quickly. 'Curiosity killed the cat' and in this case I'd be the cat, and I don't think satisfaction can bring me back. Avoiding that train wreck, I said it in a sad and hurt way because, though I was mad, I was still me and couldn't say anything harshly (and I really doubt this tactic to get him to feel guilty will work anyway, I'm tolerated like Jaken is). "I might as well practice with these new powers you forced on me."


	4. Chapter 4

It was getting dark. Sesshomaru and I were still on unfavorable terms because he refuse to speak to me. I figured as much because he's not as like his brother as I thought, I just caught him in an 'off' mood. So we both practiced in the courtyard, I with my new powers and the flying thing so I wouldn't crash (I'm pretty good if I do say so myself) and him with his precision with his Dokkasou. A few times he almost hit me with the back lash but I wasn't going to give him the benefit of my caving first; I'd stick this stalemate out until the end.

Jaken was watching curiously, a little nervous at the tension between us, and given the space we were putting between us, it must have been a lot. He was probably also worried that the foul mood I'd put his lord in would turn on him, but he still remained quiet in his observations until I decided to do something stupid.

"Hey, Jaken?" I said up to him from where the elevated patio meets the ground.

"What?" he asked back.

"I think I'm starting to understand how my power works. Can you do me a favor?"

"You're not using me as target practice," he said defensively, about ready to jump up and ditch.

"No, no," I shook my head, grinning innocently. "When I step back and give the okay, will you use your staff to spit fire at me?"

This baffled him but like I thought, it caught Shi-shi-sama's attention because he paused and glanced over with a careful look.

"Are you trying to kill yourself?!" Jaken exclaimed. "A day with your magic or whatever is not enough to take on an opponent with!"

"I don't want to _fight_, just _practice_," I assured, clasping my hands behind my back. "If you're that worried about me, then just blast me with a little fire ball, it doesn't have to be elaborate." A little giggle thrown in made him fluster and announce he wasn't worried about me, he just didn't want to kill me in a way that would humiliate me. It also served to get me the giant fire blast I wanted.

Once I was about halfway across the yard, I waved and he shot at me. The flame roared right at me and I saw from the corner of my eye, Sesshomaru's nearly-worried look like I was committing suicide right in front of him. Not true, I was just practicing.

When the inferno was arm's length away, I held my hand up, sweeping it into position for a brief second as my essence leaked into it, making it like an extension of my body, controlled by any thought that came to mind. Once it registered, I continued in a flare over my head, the long tail of flame following closely as I jumped, twirled and whipped it as if it were nothing more than a ribbon. I made a tornado shield around myself, did a back flip where it trailed from the tip of my foot, over my head and down my front as a blocker and even as two-to-three separate tentacles which braided together in a flaming sword-shape which I could either hold in my hand or attach directly to my arm without burning myself.

"Wow," I breathed, staring at the 'blade' in wonder. Just the other day Jaken explained that the 'animal rebels' were actually created by Sesshomaru to keep him on his toes and for target practice. Knowing this, when a large barn owl suddenly shot out from a tree near where I first arrived here, I took a sweep at it with my fire blade and a long, searing sliver of blaze turned it to ash on the spot. "Awesome," I drawled happily. "I think I'll keep it." And with that it shrunk down until it was a tiny, red-crystal, sword-shaped bauble which I tucked into the fold of my obi.

When I went to take in their expressions, Jaken was completely blown away, eyes wide and mouth to the floor. But of course, Shi-shi-sama was just his version of blown away: eyes slightly wider than usual, mouth open a tiny bit, posture erect and body stiff. I closed my eyes, smiled and shrugged one shoulder playfully, sending him a 'you wanna make me mad now?' message. Then I immediately faced Jaken, arms wide and enthusiastically declared, "Now hit me with water!"

There was a quick exchange between us before it was my turn to freeze up. My pulse quickened, I zoned out and my blood ran cold. By the time I could see what was in front of me again, both of my hosts were beside me, but Jaken was the one asking what was wrong with me; Sesshomaru and I still weren't going to talk to each other.

"I don't know why but..." I focused mentally on the image I was receiving which looked like a glowing, pink ball at first but then I noticed a sliver-shaped piece of glass in it that was giving off the light. "I'm sensing..." It multiplied to almost te—no, twelve. "Shards of the Shikon no Tama. A lot of them."

Both of the guys (?) exchanged a brief glance before Jaken continued with, "Are you sure it's the Jewel of Four Souls? I thought only that Kagome girl could sense them?"

I nodded once. "I'm sure of it. Nothing else I know of glows bright pink and shines when darkness is around."

"How many?" I didn't hear who said it.

"About a dozen. They're focused in one area, probably one demon, but there are several of those around."

"Where? They'd have to be close," Jaken commented.

I looked down at him, then to Sesshomaru. "Just outside this place. They're heading west." Something flashed in my mind. "To a large river near a range of mountains..." Right then my blood ran warm again and I felt light-headed, collapsing to the ground, eyes closed from exhaustion but soon I completely blacked out.

I woke up in the very bed I'd given Sesshomaru a massage in. The light outside the window was bright, meaning it had to be the next day at least, and at first I thought I was alone in the room but a glance to my left brought my eyes to Sesshomaru's back. He was leaning against the bed, either asleep or staring at the floor.

He turned his head slightly. He'd been staring. "Good, so you are alive," he stated plainly. Must still be mad.

Well, at least he's talking to me.

"What happened?" I croaked.

"You passed out after your little vision. Slept all last night and through the morning."

"Oh," I moaned, "great." Then I noticed someone who wasn't here (wait, what?). "Where's Jaken?"

"He's gone to check out the river near the mountains you mentioned. If it's of any interest to me, I'll probably go see it for myself." I believe it, he's dressed full in armor and even had all three swords on him. "He'll be back shortly."

"Oh, then don't get your ass handed to you when you go."

He humphed. "You seem certain I'll be going."

"You seem certain, too. You're dressed to travel," I remarked and he turned his head back around. I sat up and pulled my legs to my side, leaning on one arm. "When will you be back? Is Jaken going back with you?"

"He is."

"Okay," I puffed, "I'll make sure those animals don't trash the place while you're gone."

"You're coming too."

... "Wait, what?" I'm leaving this little dimensional hole? For real?

"You haven't been in proper sunlight for several days now." He shrugged. "You look like you're dead." Probably true, but there are no mirrors so I can't tell. "Some time outside might do you some good."

Aw, he cares. "What's it matter?" I mumbled. "Last time I checked, you didn't care what I did or what happened to me, you just didn't want to kill me yourself." And with that, he walked out. I was used to him ditching me instead of answering so I left it, hugging my knees to myself until he came back and tossed a heap of cloth at me.

"Change and take a bath, you're starting to smell again."

That made me twitch.

Outside was just like the anime: green, clean and vast. The sun really did have a positive effect on my tired and sore body. I'd felt heavy all day, but once I stepped into the sunlight I felt instantly light as air, but not in a bad way. For the time being, my biggest concern was Jaken seeing up the short skirt of my kimono, but as the day drug on, I sensed more and more demons, some with a jewel shard or two, some just that powerful on their own.

Now seemed the best time as any to try and make peace with Jaken since kibble-for-brains won't talk to me unless he has to and the silence was bugging me to no end. The toad was leading the way to the river by the mountains so I went up behind him, ignoring Sesshomaru as much as possible to see when he'd snap and try to get me to talk to him again. My guess: he didn't care either way and would prefer me to be quiet.

"So, what exactly is going on, Jaken? Why're so many demons gathering?" I asked conversationally.

He replied, "It's been too long since the last one. Demons have gotten too populace for our own good."

"Meaning...?"

He sighed. "The Demon Games are a gathering of the strongest and most skilled to test their power in front of those they respect or wish to prove themselves to. It's much like a tournament that humans fight in, but if you lose in the Demon Games, you die. It's really an easy way to clean up the weaker of our kind so we don't have hoards of useless wretches wandering around."

"Oh, I see. So will Sesshomaru be participating?"

"It would depend on how strong the participants are."

Several minutes of silence before we decided to stop for a short rest. Sesshomaru sat under a tree, his fuzzy boa (now I remember what it's called) being used as padding against the trunk as Jaken plopped into a patch of tall grass, his staff laying beside him. My ears, which were more sensitive now than I'd guessed, twitched and picked up the sound of a babbling brook not far into a stand of trees to the north. I grabbed the bamboo water case at my side and peered in. _Empty._ "I'm going to go fill my carrier, back in a flash."

I started jogging over to where the trees started when Sesshomaru's distinctive voice reached me. "Don't stray for too long." This made me pause and look back; Jaken was napping and Fluffy had his eyes closed, but I could tell he'd been watching me.

A smile twitched onto my face before I started toward the stream again.

(Omniscient)

A brook ran through the trees not far off and as the group rested, one of them vouched to get water. Upon reaching the water, they met a surprising sight: a beautiful girl with moon-pale skin, flowing black hair and large, sad ebony eyes in a purple kimono who was filling her canister with water just across the stream. She was humming to herself an unfamiliar tune with a voice sure to be enchanting.

(Azralea)

"Excuse me," the person I'd sensed approach said. Even though I knew he was there, I didn't expect it to be him! I looked up with a start to see the erotic monk, Miroku! This place has now been dubbed a danger zone. I took a step back, watching him carefully. "Wait, don't run!" he begged, hand possessing the Wind Tunnel, a large, black gap through my eyes, extended toward me. "I didn't mean to startle you, miss. I just didn't expect to see anyone else out here. Are you alone?"

"I, um," I started, hugging my arms close to me while thinking it better not to say I was with someone in case he asked who; if he found out I was with Sesshomaru and he told Inuyasha that would just start all kinds of problems. "I need to go."

"Just hold on!" He was faster than I expected and grabbed my arm, but not in a way that would hurt me. "A young girl shouldn't be wandering around in these woods alone, especially now. Why don't you come and stay with me and my group for a while? At least until we can get you safely to a village?"

Mm... "I'll come," I muttered, "but I can't stay, someone's expecting me. Besides, I don't want to be a burden." _Sesshomaru will probably get furious that I spent time with his brother, but if I run off now no doubt Miroku will 'worry' and follow me so it's best to go with him for right now, I can leave once I convince them I'll be fine._

So we made the quick trek back to where Inuyasha, Shippo, Kagome, Kirara, Sango and even Myoga were waiting, some eating, some sleeping. But everyone focused on us once we stepped into camp. Greetings went around, even though I knew who they all were, but because I was trying to act like a normal human so as to not draw suspicion to myself, I pretended to freak out upon noticing Inuyasha, hiding, or trying to, behind a tree.

"It's alright," Miroku assured, "his bark is worse than his bite. Inuyasha won't hurt you." I still played the part of the worried villager as we talked about what I was doing in the forest, Sango (re-)explained why it was dangerous to be here now and I told them I was gathering water and herbs to take home and hadn't realized the danger. But I 'lived the other way' and promised to be careful on my way home. Of course, they insisted on escorting me just in case when a strong gust of wind came out of no where but died quickly.

"Really," I told them, "I'll be fine. I'm a strong girl, I can take care of myself. A few demons don't scare me."

"And yet you freaked out when you saw Inuyasha," Shippo remarked.

Think fast. "That was because I recognized him!" I blurted. "I heard things from travelers about a powerful half-demon with white hair traveling with a group of humans. I also heard of slaughters he'd committed, but if you say he's not bad, then they must have been stretching the truth." They seemed to buy it since 'things were going around' and it didn't seem out of place for me to hear about them.

Another gust of wind came through and I started to move in an off-angle to where I wanted to go to shake them off if I could when—guess who?—Sesshomaru pops up and grabs me, jumping away from the group as Jaken appeared from the bushes. And of course everyone was on red alert, Tetsuaiga drawn and at the ready, an arrow locked into place, Hiraikatsu in hand, Wind Tunnel almost bead-free, kitty giant and Fox Fire flickering. The Bakuseiga came out of it's sheath and pointed toward the group, Jaken ready to scorch any unlucky slowpokes.

"Hurry, get out of here!" Inuyasha yelled once my feet were on the ground. "Sesshomaru despises humans! He'll kill you if you give him the chance!"

I didn't want them fighting, not now. To try and prevent anything from getting out of hand, I took a step forward. "Wait, don't-"

"Stay back," Sesshomaru growled at me out of range of hearing for the others. But that hesitation in his assault allowed for Inuyasha to unleash the Wind Scar, and since I know what it did, or almost did, to Shi-shi the 'last time', I jumped behind him and spread my wings. They unfurled, giant and translucent, folding around my love (yeah, I guess I really do love the fluff ball in a non-fangirl way) as Jaken jumped behind me and the blast deflected from all of us.

Being so much taller than me, Sesshomaru blocked me from the view of the group and Inuyasha barked (lol), "Learn a new trick since the last time, Sesshomaru?!"

But even Shi-shi was surprised in his own way as I folded my wings but didn't hide them, stepping out from behind but not looking at them.

"Azralea?" Kagome gasped. "Why would you help Sesshomaru?"

"Because," I said quietly, "he saved me when I was hurt. I owe him that." _And much more._ There were no doubts in my mind that, since he still believed I could leave this world any time I wanted, the only reason I stuck around was because I felt indebted to him. But if that's how he chose to think, let him, I had other things to worry about. "Sorry, we can't stick around." My wings grew again and curled around the three of us, folding into a ball of light which shrunk and disappeared.

We reappeared a little from where we'd stopped before. I was exhausted and on my knees, gasping for breath as my companions walked off the lag from the jump I made. They didn't comment on what I did, so I left it be, but I did want to know why they showed up. "How did..." pant, pant, "you know... where I was?"

"The gust of wind," Sesshomaru explained, trying his best not to look fatigued himself. "The first one I only smelled you, but with that second one I knew my brother had gotten to you."

"So why'd you... come after me? Were you... worried?"

"I didn't want to run the risk of them adding your power to their group."

Of course.

"Oh..."

Jaken had completely passed out.

"I'm not carrying the toad..."

"Then leave him. He'll catch up."

And that's exactly what we were going to do but when I tried to move my legs, they felt numb. "Um..." Sesshomaru, who'd started walking, paused and looked at me. "Sorry to say this now, but I can't feel my legs." He pursed his lips and took a deep breath, pulling me up probably the last thing he wanted to do but did it anyway, taking hold of my hand and placing one hand on my waist for balance. His hand was so much bigger than mine and had light callouses from wielding swords and fighting-hand-to-hand. It was also warm and the feeling of having another on my small waist, his palm easily covering the space between my hip and rib cage because of my petite-ness, made my heart flutter.

It was almost bizarre, but I still thanked him when his eyes got wide and he pulled his hand away. His expression scared me so I looked down at my side and saw I was bleeding badly, a deep cut in my side that I couldn't even feel oozing bright crimson water as I began to feel faint.

"Sessho... maru..." I uttered, swaying precariously, "what... happened?"

He helped me down, untying the sash around his waist to tie around mine so the bleeding wouldn't be as bad. "It must have been my brother's Wind Scar. You must not of deflected all of it." My breathing became labored as I lost more blood, the pain now setting in as my body and mind reestablished that they were still connected.

"Why not... use Tenseiga?"

"No time, we're not far from where we originally stopped and Inuyasha will smell the blood soon enough."

Jaken sat up then and shook his head, turning around the second Sesshomaru scooped me up and started to carry me. "M-m-milord! Why are you resorting to _carrying_ the girl?!"

"She's injured," he stated. "We must put as much space between us and them as possible or there will be trouble." Jaken ran out front, looking confused, to finish leading the way. Once he was certain the toad was out of ear shot, Sesshomaru muttered to me, "By the way, what you did was very impressive. You have more power than I originally thought." I laughed once, grinning as my head tilted to the side, resting against the fluffy boa as my eyes closed and I slipped into black.


	5. Chapter 5

When I awoke again to the cold-warm feeling, it was dark and a small campfire crackled, cinders floating up a ways before disappearing. I sat up and looked around, spotting the glowing orange reflection off Sesshomaru's clothes as he crossed to the other side of the fire, sword just clicking into place as I adjusted myself. The sash he'd used to dress my wounds was once again around his waist, tainted red in some areas from my blood.

"Thank you again," I told him as he sat down across from me. I met the amber disks which haunted my imagination for years as he stared, checking to make sure I was really okay, if that, and grunted. I sat, hands in my lap as my fingers twiddled. "And I'm sorry I'm always getting hurt. I guess I still haven't gotten used to being here where anything can kill me." _Not much different from my home world though. Now, if you eat candy from the wrong manufacturer you can get poisoned._

"It's not your fault," he said and I looked up, not expecting words like that to come from him. "You've been here only four days, most of that time spent in a world aside from this one and before that in someplace I can't even imagine." That's hard to believe.

Something unsettled me so I looked around and noticed Jaken was gone. "Where's...?"

"Collecting food. He just left."

"Oh..."

Crickets chirped for a long, silent minute before I once more heard Sesshomaru's voice over the pop of flame-on-wood. "Since we don't have to worry about interruptions from the toad," he actually said it, "I'd like to ask you something."

My heart missed a beat and I froze up, eyes down and hair hiding my face. "What?" my voice squeaked.

The inuyoukai shifted and when I peeked, I noticed he wasn't looking right at me, but off to the side, an uncomfortable expression on his face. "Do you like it here?"

I perked up, staring in the same direction he was so he wouldn't know I'd been staring at him first. "What...?"

"Do you like it here?" he repeated more loudly. He paused for a split second before clarifying, "Do you like living here in this world with us; with Jaken, Ah-Un and..." By this point his voice had dropped so low I leaned closer to the fire (smart) to listen more closely. "... and me..."

My brain disconnected for a moment as that breezed to me. _With him? What's that mean? Does he enjoy my company or...? _It was like he'd declared his love for me! Though that wasn't possible in any dimension; it must mean I'm better company than Jaken is. "Y..." I hesitated, trying to word this a certain way. "Yes, I do. Back home," I felt anger and sadness well inside me, "my parents were alcoholics and I was abused in more ways than one. I was waiting for the day I could legally move away from them so they could stew in their own muck alone." I laughed one humorless laugh. "I got my wish a little sooner and in a different way than expected. Now that I'm away, I'm not going back if I can help it." Maybe now's a good time to... "Besides," I shrugged, "I couldn't go back, even if I wanted to."

Sesshomaru, who'd been watching the fire until now, looked up. "What do you mean?"

"I told you before, I got here by accident. I don't know how to get back home, but I don't want to go, so it doesn't matter." I swear, it had to be the fire because I just saw Sesshomaru break out in a relieved smile! It vanished quickly, though, because my proximity to the fire had taken a turn for the obvious worst and the ends of my hair caught fire. I screamed in surprise, rocking back while patting the flames when Sesshomaru suddenly appeared in front of me, using one hand to grab the lock of pyro, extinguishing it easily.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a way that didn't suit him: concerned.

"I... I think so." My hand covered my face where some of the burning bits had touched and incinerated my skin. It wasn't bad, but I felt Sesshomaru's hand go under my chin like he'd done once before and turn me so I was facing him.

"Show me your face," he said, not asking.

"It's nothing, really," I assured nervously.

"Then remove your hand."

"If it's nothing why do you want to see it?" I'm cutting my life short, I just know it.

"Just do it before I make you."

I didn't want to get violent (we know where that goes) so, slowly, I lowered my hand, revealing the long, thin burns across my cheek and eye. "It's not that bad, it just stings. Little things like these will heal over soon so using the Tenseiga would be a waste of power. It doesn't bother me too much anyway."

Then he sighed my name, the look on his face and in his eyes softening in such a way it caught me off guard, thumb stroking my burns gently as my face heated up so bad you could boil water. "What am I going to do with you...?"

"Um, S-Sesshomaru...?" I pointed behind us where the sound of approaching footsteps was coming from.

Jaken returned with fish so Sesshomaru and I stopped talking in order to prevent suspicious interrogation from you-know-who.

Turns out the Demons Games weren't as interesting as I thought; just a bunch of meat-head demons trying to duke it out with anyone who looked at them funny. Sesshomaru had us continue on without stopping, probably having something else he wants to do now, and managed to keep most challengers at bay with a glare. My fangirl side returned whenever he did that, my heart fluttering—an odd reaction to something so full of evil.

But despite keeping challengers from him, they did trying to pick fights or flirt with me. My burns had healed over night somehow (no sign of being the work of the Tenseiga) so there were no blemishes to take away from my apparent attractiveness so they flocked and every time I said no, they'd argue, fight with each other or try to one-up me but I sent them packing every time. Oh, I guess I should mention the reason they thought I was a demon and not a human: I had a dream last night where my spirit-self showed up and she looked panicked and told me to be careful of my temper (it's there, just very long) because I was apparently part demon on my father's side! Go figure! I'd gotten strange marks on parts of my body (some in places I don't think I should mention), but as for my face, I had one red line under my left eye and a navy crescent moon on its side with three rain drops under it under my right eye. My ears were also pointier and I felt a little bump under the skin on my forehead.

_Not a zit... _I told myself while touching it for the umpteenth time. _So what is it?_

I also learned that when my power is used in Purity, it creates a good outcome, but when used in Malice it generates all kinds of evil problems, but I still can't figure out what Purity and Malice mean, even though the demons I sent packing ended up preventing accidents because of the way they fell or all kinds of other ironic things. Accompany that with the fact my nails were now claw-like and I felt a change in my personal energy, like it can change at any given time into something completely different, I figure I must look completely different from when I first arrived. But, like usual, Sesshomaru didn't say anything; Jaken did, but my love was totally oblivious, or didn't care one way or another. Given all this, even if I went home, who knows what would happen?

As we cleared the area where the games were being held, I felt a disturbance in the air and stopped in my tracks the minute Sesshomaru did. "You feel that?" I asked quietly from behind him.

"I was about to ask the same thing," he replied.

Then everything happened too fast. A whirlwind kicked up and the last thing I saw before getting knocked out was the sight of Sesshomaru looking up from a long way down, eyes wide and scowling—some kind of surprised/angry look I could tell meant he wasn't expecting what just happened and he didn't like it. All this I saw over the edge of a furry thing (carpet?).

One thought came to mind. _Kagura..._

(Sesshomaru)

The wind turned sinister. I halted in my tracks as the familiar energy registered and the hair all over my body stood on end. The grass behind me ruffled as Azralea stopped too and muttered, "You feel that?", taking the words right out of my mouth. A grin twitched onto my face briefly. _She learns fast._ "I was about to ask the same thing."

A loud sound like a tornado suddenly kicked up from behind, too fast for what I predicted and I whirled to see the girl being swept up into a small whirlwind, being carried up on a large feather with none other than Kagura, the Wind Sorceress, seated with her. Both looked down at me, Azralea's eyes foggy and her face pale before falling out of sight. I felt anger boil up inside me as Kagura laughed, face behind her fan, and I knew my eyes were turning red.

"Well, Sesshomaru? If you want the girl back, you'll have to fight for her, just like the last time," the witch called down to me as she flew off.

"Lord Sesshomaru, are we really going after them?" Jaken asked from beside me.

"Of course," I growled menacingly, a wicked grin crossing my face as I brought my right hand up in front of my face and cracked the knuckles without touching them. "He dared cross into territory no man comes back alive from." And I started off after them, fearful for what Naraku may do to the poor girl before I get there.

(Jaken)

Lord Sesshomaru never ceases to strike fear into my very soul...

(Azralea)

I opened my eyes slowly, noting how foggy my vision was, like a purple haze filled the room. I was suspended in the air, arms tied uncomfortably behind my back, my wings also bound (subconscious self-preservation mechanism) and my mouth gagged. I moaned as I focused on Kagura's image in a window directly across and below from me. She was holding her fan over her face and laughed once she noticed I was awake. "Sore, child? Good." I struggled to get to her but my stiff muscles cried out against it. "There's no way for you to escape unless someone comes to retrieve you, and don't count on my help. Even if you get down from there, the miasma," that explains the mist, "will keep you weak enough to yield to anything Naraku can dish out. He took extreme care in diluting the poison so it wouldn't kill you immediately, just keep you weak, but if your precious Sesshomaru doesn't get here fast enough, you'll die from over-exposure."

Then I'm dead. He won't come for me, there's no reason. He could easily find another strong demon to follow him around, so I'll just die here, waiting futilely for my hero. I laughed once, eyes welling up at this end. I wasn't going to struggle or try to escape, I'd probably be killed before I could get across the courtyard. So here I was, dying mysteriously in another dimension in another time, no one knowing what was happening to me or how I died; there wouldn't be a body because the miasma would eat me up or Naraku would absorb me, so I'd completely disappear off the face of the earth without a second thought. Too bad, I was hoping I could kiss Sesshomaru at least once so he'd know what I truly thought of him but now I won't-

A massive explosion went off outside and through the window I saw a giant inuyoukai with a purple moon on its forehead and reddish cheek marks burst through the wall to the castle, eyes crazed with anger.

_Sesshomaru! _I thought hopefully but also in shock. _He came? But why? He can't fight while angry like that! It doesn't do anyone any good to fight unless they're level-headed!_ He'd started battling Naraku as Kanna and Kagura watched from one of the buildings. Jaken was running around looking for something, probably me if that's why they're here, as some of Naraku's tentacles erupted from the ground, missing mostly but one did puncture Shi-shi-sama's chest, just missing his heart.

I snapped. I utterly snapped. Everything went red as I unleashed a massive wave of spiritual energy which purified the miasma in the air and in my body some how, also snapping my bindings and destroying the front of the hut I was sealed in. The wave force a piece of debris to flatten Jaken who was promptly knocked out and I fell to my knees on the ground before adrenaline and pure anger fueled me out into the courtyard where Sesshomaru lay, bleeding and being virtually torn apart—Naraku wanted him mostly intact to absorb.

The full moon shone brightly on my back as I crossed the dirt ground slowly, each step sending up little puffs of white sparkles. Naraku and his incarnations were shocked that I could move as much as I was, but more from the power I possessed. At the edge of my vision, now returning to normal colors, I saw my hair turn white and the feathers fell from my wings, revealing large, black bat wings and my nails turned such a dark red, they were black, fading to red at the tips and the little bump on my forehead split open, blood dripping down my face.

I now know what my dream meant by Malice.

I lifted a hand which glowed with an eerie, red aura before taking a swipe and sending large, bright crimson flashes at Naraku's body, striking him where his tentacles attached directly. As I approached, I saw more and more of the damaged done to Sesshomaru and the more I saw, the more anger I created, and with this, the more energy I felt build up in the little nub on my forehead, no doubt some kind of gem.

When the bastard who orchestrated this turned his attack on me, the energy unleashed in a long, red-black beam, blowing that ass into a million and one pieces. I knew he lived, but it gave me the chance to calm down enough to revert back and reverse Sesshomaru's transformation. Bad idea, he looked much worse in his normal form, armor gone, clothes in ruins and blood everywhere. I felt so horrible about this, but I knew it wasn't my fault, that I cried silently, getting to my knees and placing Sesshomaru's head in my lap.

Kagura and Kanna had fled the moment I severed the tentacles, so we were alone for the most part. "Sesshomaru," I sobbed, "I'm sorry."

"It's... okay," he gasped, placing one blood-covered hand on my cheek. "This is... nothing."

"Bullshit," I gasped. I plucked a feather from my wing and tossed it toward where Jaken was, focusing on taking us home. Two balls of light formed and soon all that was left in Naraku's castle were the twitching pieces of him trying to reconstitute themselves.


	6. Chapter 6

Jaken was tucked away in a small room with a bed in just his size; his room obviously. I drug Sesshomaru's unconscious body to the sitting room and heaved him onto the bed, not hesitating to break into the herbs and bandages. First, I removed what was left of his kimono, mostly caked with blood, and used much caution in pulling it away so as to not cause my patient anymore pain. Then, I pulled his hair to the side and tied it up so it wouldn't get in the way. Using a hot pot of water and a silk rag (fancy), I began to wash away the blood and dirt but the contact of hot liquid on exposed flesh didn't go over too well and the reflex shredded part of my kimono, but it would have been a lot worse if I hadn't of moved.

Sesshomaru's eyes were blood red, his irises bright blue, lines irregular and teeth sharp, a low, menacing growl rumbling from his throat. The charge of energy made his bangs float a little, and though he made a threatening noise when I placed my hand on his shoulder, once he realized it was me, he snapped back to normal. "Azralea...?" he breathed, obviously still on edge.

"Yes," I said quietly, smiling in relief. "It's me, really. Naraku is gone, not dead, but I don't think we'll be hearing from him for a while. Now lay down so I can treat you."

He sighed, sitting up. "I'll be fine in a few days."

I poked a deep gash in his side and he went rigid, crumpling up and shaking. "Really?"

"Not the point," he grunted.

"Lay down," I repeated, hands on my hips as I changed my tone. "I can sense miasma in your blood and if I don't take care of it soon, you'll die anyway." Clearly he did not know this. "Okay?"

He gave in and lay back down, grumbling to himself.

After a while, I started making a potion to cure the miasma in his blood and went to check Jaken who was peacefully asleep before applying some ointment to Sesshomaru to stop the bleeding. "This'll sting," I warned before dabbing a corner of the cloth onto the cuts.

He roared, arm swinging at me and claws ripping across my chest. I fell back, pressing my hand to the wounds as they began to burn from his poison claws. "Dammit, Sesshomaru!" I harped at him. I don't think he meant to hurt me because he was taken aback before seeming appalled at himself but I moved my hand, letting a soft, pink light glow as my scratches healed and the burning ceased, but still I scowled at him because I was getting tired of this. "I'll tie you down if I have to so quit being a baby and hold still!"

This must be an off time for him because he actually made an annoyed retort once he realized I was fine. "Then let me do it, at least then it won't hurt."

"It'll hurt anyway! Besides, you shouldn't be moving in case something else opens back up!" I made a move to place the rag on his skin again but he grabbed my wrist.

"Mind your own business, I'm telling you I'll be fine so just back off! Unless you'd rather meet the awaited day when you die now."

I gasped, dropping the rag. Here I thought we were really starting to connect, but I guess I can't rely too much on that in reality since we've only known each other for a few days; still, I didn't think he still thought about killing me. Suddenly, sobs racked my body and tears fell down my face as my teeth clenched. I yanked my hand away and ran to the door, rounding at the last minute to shriek, "Baka!" at him before proceeding with the Nine Words spell. "Fine! Die, for all I care! See how long you last without my help! Rin! Pyou! Tou! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!" The glowing grid of energy formed and blasted across the room, smashing into Sesshomaru with enough force to knock him through the headboard and leave bruises. "I hate you!" And then I ran, all the way outside, not even stopping when I reached the wall.

I jumped it and passed through the barrier, dropping into the real world (home just seems like a dream these days) and continuing to run. And I didn't stop until I passed out in the street of a small town, far, far away from Sesshomaru.

(Sesshomaru)

I. Am. An. Ass. Hole.

Period.

(Azralea)

Two weeks passed. I was taken into the care of the head family and soon became the priestess of a small shrine; who knew purifying a poisoned lake could leave such an impression? I also slayed a snake demon who was eating children and though I showed my true colors (wings...) they didn't care; obviously they thought I was a good spirit or angel of some kind and let me be, coming and going as I wished, but I didn't want to leave. A small town like this, so far out of the way, would hide me for a while in case Sesshomaru came looking, though I highly, _highly _doubted that.

But just in case, I changed my hair white and eyes red, using a screen to hide my facial markings (the gem on my forehead was hidden behind a bluish, four-point star shape) and even went so far as to hide my scent. This way, if Sesshomaru _did_ happen to come looking, he wouldn't know it was me except for my voice; I couldn't change it, but not because I was unable, but because some part of me wanted him to figure out who I was and take me back (not likely).

Today, I just finished healing a sick granny and exorcising a recently-returned father who had gone to the city for business, and was on my way to tell the children a story when one of the villagers came running down the street, hawking about something. "Demons! Demons! Priestess Namidairo! Help us! Get rid of the demons, please! They reek of evil!"

"What do they look like?" I asked calmly as a girl placed a flower necklace around my throat. I'd showed these people that not all demons are harmful (though most are) and not to judge unless they've already done something destructive.

"One's incredibly short and green, maybe an imp, and carries a staff with two heads! The other is tall with silver hair, a furry cape and has three swords at his waist!"

All I needed was the imp with the staff to know who it was. My eyes narrowed. _So they came after all._ I walked smoothly past the panicked villager, passing others in the street who seemed scared as the demons approached. I stopped in front of them and they did too, a fifteen-foot gap between us. My red-white-purple kimono rustled softly in the slight breeze, hidden hands clamping onto the rigged fans in my sleeves.

"Demons," I called to them in monotone, "what have you came here for?"

A look crossed Sesshomaru's face as he heard my voice but it quickly faded as my scent blew to him, meaning he didn't realize it was me. "We're looking for someone." Something seemed off about them. Jaken was quivering and his master was paler than usual, gray rings under his eyes speaking of little sleep, no doubt giving him a shorter fuse than he's already got. "A girl, about your age with black hair and ebony eyes, shy and possibly having wings sprouting from her back."

"I assure you, no one like that lives here."

"But milady, didn't you-" an old man started but a look hushed him, though not quick enough for Sesshomaru not to notice.

"No one with that description has been through here to my knowledge. How long have you been searching?"

"Two weeks," the demon replied.

"Then I have not seen her. Now, be off with you before I have the need to exorcise you." I turned my back and began walking when someone screamed. Thus, I whirled back and saw the glowing claws of Dokumukou, ready to slice a young woman and her daughter up. "Have you gone mad?"

"Possibly," he retorted, indeed having a disturbed look in his eyes. "I can't sleep at night because of the guilt of driving her away, and now I believe I've finally reached my breaking point. I can tell you're lying, so if you don't tell me what's really going on I'll slaughter these villagers one at a time until you do."

He'd do it, but at the moment I was comprehending what he meant by 'the guilt of driving her away'. Did he feel deeply sorry for hurting me? Or did Jaken—nah, he can't really stand me, either. Maybe he got sick or the Nine Words drove him crazy. I vouch for sick; the miasma, though purified through the finger weaving, and that, would of lowered his immunity so he could be under the influence of a cold or something.

"Very well," I spoke evenly, "then I'll just have to stop you." I vanished, pulling a short katana reinforced with the claws of a dragon out as I reappeared behind Sesshomaru, flicking one arm to the side as a mass of black energy shot out, turning into the snake from my 'dream'; I'd learned to make them solid by morphing my aura and expelling them. Hivestus, the boa-rattler, coiled around Jaken, shaking his tail with a loud clatter as my sword moved under Sesshomaru's neck.

I unfurled my wings and dropped my guise, grinning in a not-happy-but-evil way. "Am I really to believe you're sorry for what you did to me, hurting me the way you did? I must thank you, though, because without that betrayal I wouldn't be as strong emotionally as I am now."

"Hurt you?" he uttered, confused for more than one reason. "When did I hurt you?"

"When you threatened to kill me," I explained. "I thought you'd leave my life be, but apparently you've been thinking of a day to get rid of me. Even my parents treated me better."

His fists clenched as I said this, provoking him to whip around, trying to spook me back, but instead I took his poison claws full in the stomach, still smiling. "Sorry, but you don't scare me. So how's this for a plan falling into place? It's two weeks late, but now you can kill me." Blood leaked from the side of my mouth, dripping to the ground with soft plips. The villagers had run inside once given the chance as watched helplessly through their windows. I'm certain my sanity had left the day I slayed that demon, so of course I was doing something stupid.

Sesshomaru, gaze lost as he saw what had happened, removed his hand from my gut quickly, and I only barely moved. "What's wrong?" I mused. "Two weeks ago you were willing to kill me for trying to treat your injuries, but now you're hesitant and I just pointed a sword at your throat! Why can't you kill me? It's simple! Just run me through! I was born human so I'm frail compared to you, easily slain and eradicated!" Uh, yup, I was totally crazy. "Watch!" I grabbed the Toukijin, feeling the evil aura retuning as I yanked it out and jumped back. Shi-shi made a grab for the blade but missed, taking a step toward me quickly as I raised the tip and touched it to my chest. "Watch how easily a mortal-born girl can die, Sesshomaru. It should only disturb you for a second before you can take your sword back and move on, just like with Rin."

Okay, that was low, even for me in my current state. Plus, he didn't know I knew about her but it served to halt him for the split second needed to throw the sword through me, but at the very last minute, he moved, appearing beside me and sticking his hand in the space between the sword tip and my chest, letting the demon blade pierce his hand, the blood spattering across my face and snapping me out of my psycho-daze. Toukijin fell to the ground with the loud sound of clanking metal, I soon falling to my knees as an agonized look distorted my love's features.

"I..." I choked. "I'm sorry... I..."

He knelt beside me as Hiss released Jaken but not letting him close. "No, _I'm_ sorry," he whispered to me. "I drove you away and made you like this, if anything you deserve to kill me to atone for what I put you through. I never meant to threaten your life, it just slipped out because I was upset. Your life couldn't mean more to me than what it already does."

I gazed at him, tears falling like rivers, trying to comprehend what that meant. But, instead of telling him I accepted his apology, I just wiped my eyes and rose, going to the headman who'd come into the street to figure out what was going on and told him I couldn't stay anymore. "But take this," I placed one of my feathers in his hand, "it'll protect the village. Place it in the shrine I was working in and it will filter the bad demons out and exorcise travelers if they pass through." Then I walked back to Sesshomaru, calling Hivestus back to me as I passed Jaken. I smiled sadly but also happily at the demon lord and told him, "Let's go home."

A grin, different from his usual ones when something evil crossed his mind, appeared on his face and he stood up next, calling Jaken over as we left the small village, me turning and calling my thanks to everyone who bid me farewell, the children running to give me a bag of marbles made of river stones they used to play with. I told them I'd visit if I could and to stay out of trouble until then.

A large maple tree signifying the edge of the town's border were where the boys were waiting. I skipped by, stopping to look at the sky. "Thank you for snapping me out of that psycho pit, Sesshomaru. I don't know if I could of done it myself." My wound had sealed up a little after it was created so all that I had left was a bloody hole in my kimono, and I thought that was my biggest worry until Shi-shi, grunting a reply, and made the grass rustle in a way I found strange. I turned and gasped, bringing my hands to my mouth. "Sesshomaru!"

He'd fallen, passed out on the grass, pale, sweating and breathing hard. Jaken was beside me, freaking out as well, but at me. "He's been sick since you left! We were trying to find you to ease his suffering, but two weeks with no food and little sleep did him no good! We must return to his house quickly before someone notices!"

"I know, I know!" I yelled at him, grabbing his hand and placing my other between Sesshomaru's shoulders and folding my wings around us until we disappeared in a ball of light.


	7. Chapter 7

He'd definitely gotten a cold, but this had progressed far worse from no treatment and poor maintenance of his body. I sent Jaken out for herbs while I placed a cold ran on his burning forehead, partially blaming myself for this. _If only I could wield the Tenseiga, then I wouldn't have to worry so much anymore._ But alas, I can't, so here I was, recharging from the jump still and trying to keep Sesshomaru sane. He was so hot, I was sure the fever was melting his brain because he hallucinated once just a few minutes ago that his brother had come to kill him, but a quick smack to the face stopped that.

"Azralea...?" he asked hoarsely, turning his head slightly as I rung the old water out of the rag and dipped it back into the bowl, folded it and replaced it. "You're here..."

"Yes, I am," I whispered to him, placing my chilled hand to his cheek. "I'm going to take care of you whether you like it or not."

He chuckled, a sound induced from the fever. "Go ahead, I learned my lesson." He rubbed his stomach where I'd found some light-brown but still-existing bruises like the Nine Words spell grid. And like his ribs, the headboard had been fixed and all the splinters cleaned out.

"Hurt, didn't it?" I mused, helping him take a drink of water.

He swallowed, looking a little pained because of his sore throat. "Yeah, but worse than now."

A frown came to my face. "Don't worry, I'll get you feeling better soon."

A few minutes passed as he dropped into sleep, but soon he was trying to get his pillow more comfortable but apparently it didn't work.

"Would you like one of the feather pillows from your room?" I asked but he shook his head.

"I know this may sound strange, but your touch is soothing. Without it, the aches come back and my fever burns hotter. My skin feels like it's getting pricked everywhere with tiny needles, so nothing, not even the sheet, feels right."

"Then..." I started but tried to rethink saying what I was going to but ended up saying it anyway. "Would you like to use me as a pillow?" No sooner had the words escaped my mouth did my face burns hot as his fever.

But instead of calling me stupid or something, he grinned and said, "I'd like that."

My heart missed a beat but my reaction didn't. While he propped up onto his elbows, I removed the pillow and sat where it had been so he could use my thigh instead. Apparently what he said wasn't just fever-induced flirting; he looked much more comfortable once I was the one he was sleeping on so I left him, reacting oddly whenever he shifted, freezing up for no real reason, though when he turned his head I sighed, thankful he wasn't situated directly on the crease between my legs, otherwise his face would be someplace where hormones would riot about.

It wasn't much later that Jaken returned with the things I asked him for, first becoming dumbstruck at what he saw, but when I put my finger to my lips and pointed down, he refrained from hollering something lest he invoke the wrath of a rudely-awakened inuyoukai lord. And despite my position, I was still able to make the throat syrup and medicine so when he did finally wake up I had him take it, though it did require force-feeding him at one point because he clearly doesn't like honey. Thankfully I could overpower him right now and managed to get it down his throat, but it required sitting on him and trying to shove the syrup in his mouth, which he prevented at first by commenting on the panties I wore, which were dead-on because he could see right up my kimono and I had to fix that, much to my utter embarrassment, before going at him again.

"I'm never letting you get sick again," I told him, holding his arms down with my knees and covering his mouth with my hands until he swallowed the goo, "you're way too immature when under the influence of medicine, viruses and fever."

He finally gave in and gulped, getting a fever-smile on his face before pulling a switch-up and holding me to the bed. "And is there a problem with that?" he mused, breathing on my neck.

"Yeah, because if you acted like you were supposed to you wouldn't be such a pervert." I narrowly escaped a few bad moments due to well-placed interruptions from Jaken. Unfortunately, today I sent him out for more medicine for the last dose of the cure-all I'd found which would knock the virus out of Sesshomaru after 12 hours. So now I could either put up with his sick personality or knock him out again; as much as I'd like to play around with him, I don't think it'd be easy to explain to neither him nor Jaken afterward.

"I thought you liked me being a pervert?" he muttered to me, licking my neck.

"No, that was a natural reaction to whatever you did, not my liking it." _Though I still did..._ I stifled a moan as he bit me gently, heart about to explode form my chest.

"Then why's your heart beating so fast?"

"Get off."

"Make me." There was much more contact between us than usual, and him being so much heavier I would have difficulties, unless I did 'that' but once was enough, otherwise I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. Though a bluff never hurt anyone...

"Fine. Women's Self-Defense Class Special Move: Groin-" and he was off before I could finish, quivering at the foot of the bed. "Yeah, and I would of done it, too. Now lay down and stay put!" I pointed to the pillow and he did what I said; his being sick had its ups, but I prayed to as many gods as I could think of that he wouldn't remember anything later. "Are you going to be good?"

He thought a minute. "Depends on how long."

"Twelve hours, minimum, depending on when Jaken gets back."

"Okay," he shrugged and I thought he'd leave it at that, but as I went to check the medicine cooking in the kitchen, he grabbed my wrist and yanked me back, locking his arm around my waist and putting his mouth near my ear. "If I've got to be good for twelve hours, I should at least get one naughty thing to hold me over."

If he ever gets sick again, God forbid, I'm killing him. "What exactly?"

The hand not around my waist went south, between my legs while he nibbled my ear. "Two guesses."

As much as half my brain wanted that, I turned around to place a sleeping sigil on his forehead which he misinterpreted as my wanting to participate and kissed my neck, making me hesitate and groan. "Stop it."

"You like it, I know you do." He smirked, laying sideways with my body half trapped underneath his. "The toad's gone and I'm in the mood to be dirty, so when's the next time you'll get to do this?"

"Maybe when you're not sick and can actually think straight?" I countered, placing my hand over his mouth as he tried to kiss me again. "Now go to sleep." I whapped his forehead and a black symbol appeared, instantly knocking him out, backfiring because I had to get out from under him and ended up falling to the floor. "Tempting, but no, sorry," I told his unconscious form before running out and to the stove.

The medicine worked alright, but Sesshomaru still looked horrible, like he hadn't slept at all once I removed the sigil. Trying to feign innocence, I asked what was wrong and he, rings under his eyes and obviously irritated, replied, "That medicine, or poison I'd like to think, raised my body temperature so high I couldn't sleep."

"It got the fever out, didn't it?" I asked.

He grunted, not looking at me anymore. Jaken had done the smart thing and disappeared to avoid the wrath of the sleepless dog, so I decided to try and cheer him up in a way that might get me killed if he's at that point of irritation. "Why don't we go outside?" I asked, standing beside him as he tried to down some soup I'd made. "Out outside, in the sun? It'd be best to help you get back to your old self."

"Do you have to stand there?" he grumbled.

I frowned, pulling my eyebrows together. "Fine, grumpy, see if I ever try and help you feel better again." I wanted to go outside and since I found out how on my own, I left, sitting just outside the 'door' in a field, picking small flowers to make into a crown. There were all kinds of wild flowers around and an idea struck me but while I was gathering them, I noticed something just a few yards from where I was standing. Two small forms were sprawled on the ground and as I approached I saw they were Shippo and Kirara! "Oh, dear..." I mumbled, hurrying over to see if they were okay.

Both were breathing but they were hurt badly so I dropped my flowers and knelt down, pulling the solar energy above into my body and unleashing it as healing light on them. A few minutes later, they were sitting up, looking around, disoriented, until they saw my face, and though I had new facial marks they still knew who I was. "Yikes!" Shippo squealed, leaping up while Kirara growled. "It's you!"

"Is that how you should thank the person who saved your lives?" I countered, grimacing at them.

This fact seemed lost on the fox but Kirara mewed and he seemed to remember, snapping his fingers. "That's right! Inuyasha and the others were fighting Yamiyo and we got caught in the blast! But why'd you help us if you're with Sesshomaru?"

"Just cuz I work with someone evil doesn't mean I am."

"But why?"

I debated whether I should tell him, but Shippo had no real personal grudge against me so I smiled. "I'll tell you if you vow not to tell anyone else."

"I promise!" he agreed.

"Okay, cuz if I find out you did you won't go unpunished."

No doubt he thought something like, _And she said that with a smile 0.o'_ "I promise," he reaffirmed warily.

"The truth is," I started, meeting his eyes, "I stay with Sesshomaru because I love him."

Dumbstruck. Back in three, two, one. "WHAT?!"

"Believe it or not, I do. I don't feel like explaining, something tells me he'll be coming out to find me any minute now." Shippo squeaked. "How about I send you back to your friends?"

"Please and thank you." Hew seemed uncomfortable and skittish, Kirara keeping a sharp eye out just in case as I stood up and listened to the wind. Inuyasha and the others were a few miles from here (some blast) so I turned and plucked a feather from one wing.

"Don't tell anyone you met me, okay? Or what I told you. I'll send you to the bottom of the hill they're at, just out of sight. Just say it was a miracle you weren't hurt, got it?"

"Yup." He nodded once and I made them vanish just as the light distorted behind me and Sesshomaru appeared, glancing around before spotting me.

"There you are," he stated plainly.

"Here I am," I joked. "I thought you didn't want to come out?"

"I can change my mind, can't I?"

I grinned. "Sure. Nice day, huh?"

"Very," he agreed, looking up. I'm sure he knew someone was here, but they weren't anymore and they didn't smell like Naraku so he didn't ask, just went over to a tree, sat down and shut his eyes.

I went back to what I was doing before Shippo and Kirara showed up and told him, "Don't get sunburned."

"I don't burn," he replied.

"What'd I tell you?" I sighed.

"Freak chance, that's all," the inuyoukai lord countered, eye twitching because of his annoyance. "I don't need you rubbing it in."

"Let's just get you fixed up before Jaken-"

Too late. "My lord! What happened?!"

"Jaken," Sesshomaru said sternly which just freaked the toad out more, "you will turn around, leave this room, sit in a corner and forget what you've just seen and not come out until tomorrow morning."

I got shivers like I usually did and Jaken bolted, wailing.

"Was that necessary?"

"Let's just fix my face, it's starting to itch but it hurts to scratch."

"Maybe next time you'll listen to me. I thought you would of learned by now."

He growled as we got to the living room and he sat on the hard couch, arms and legs crossed as I stood in front of him. "Just get on with it."

"Okay, but you gotta promise not to kill me, hurt me or threaten me in any way, shape or form."

"Whatever, just hurry, it's starting to burn again."

Pushy. Still, I figured this be a good way for me to sate my urge to do something stupid later by feigning this as the only way I can fix that nasty sunburn he got. Before he could change his mind or figure out what I was doing, I placed my knees on either side of his thighs and put my hands on the back of the couch next to his shoulders, placing very gentle kisses on his right cheek, forehead and then left cheek before dashing out the door to sit on the patio and savor the moment.


	8. Chapter 8

(Sesshomaru)

That girl never ceases to surprise. I ask to fix this freak sunburn and she kisses me, though not in the way I'd expected. Sure the burning stopped, but the unusual thud in my ears didn't, and I could tell it was my heartbeat, though why it was acting that way I couldn't be sure of.

While I contemplated, my hand went to my left cheek on its own and gently touched where her lips had been and I felt my face grow hot again, but not in a burning way, because I felt the overwhelming need to have her do it again in more places. That, and much, much more.

But why?

(Azralea)

My face was red as a cherry, and no doubt you could see some form of heat coming off my head while I sat next to the koi pond and stored that precious instant away to cheer myself up later if something bad happened in the days to come. Of course, that came sooner than I thought when I felt a large demonic aura just outside and the whole mansion shook. Jaken, against his master's orders, rushed out, Sesshomaru, who'd never lower himself to rushing for anything outside battle, following shortly, staring off into space, or more likely through the barrier.

A sudden stink burned my nose and I coughed, sneezed and hacked. "What is that?" I choked.

"So you smell him too?" Sesshomaru mused. "It's Naraku."

"But it cannot be, milord! Lady—I mean, Azralea destroyed him last time we encountered him!" Jaken whined, fearful.

"No," I corrected, getting my game face on while standing in my instinctive spot beside and just to the front of Sesshomaru; my guard spot, "I didn't. I blew him into a million pieces, yes, but destroyed? Hardly. I didn't have time to go and burn all the individual pieces because you were unconscious and Sesshomaru was bleeding to death. But," I felt Malice rearing her head and knew my eyes were turning red and black as a rumble escaped my throat, also feeling Sesshomaru's eyes on me, "I won't make that mistake twice." A devilish grin appeared on my face. "I've got a few things I want to show him."

Jaken immediately took three steps from me but Sesshomaru stood his ground, making the first move outside where, sure enough, Naraku and all his incarnations that were still alive sat, waiting for us.

"Knock,knock," the half-demon freak mocked. "Good to see you again, Sesshomaru."

"I wish I could say the same for you, Naraku," the inuyoukai replied, irritation levels rising.

"I'll let you know now, this time I will not fail to gain your power or that of the girl there." He nodded to me and I growled. "Though," he added, "I may have some fun with her first." I wasn't the only one who bared my teeth.

"Oh, protective, aren't we, Sesshomaru?" Kagura spited from beside her master.

"Hey, Kagura," I hissed, voice distorted with my dark side, "why don't you leave now to live another day? You can go find yourself a corner and sell yourself on it." There were certainly some well-repressed urges to burst out laughing, even from Naraku himself.

"Why you disrespectful brat!" the woman barked at me. "I'll kill you myself!"

"Now Kagura," Hakudoshi chided smugly, "did you not just hear Naraku? He wants her alive."

She sneered at me. "Fine. I'll make her dance on that fine line called death."

"Very well," Naraku agreed.

Before Sesshomaru could open his mouth, I started giving orders. "Jaken, take the lackeys. I got the whore, Sesshomaru, take ugly." Guess he was thinking the same thing, only not as vulgar. I used a Shun-po to appear in front of Kagura, black wings slowly extending from my back as my body adjusted to Malice. "Hey, Kagura," I hissed, grinning ear-to-ear, "think fast!" She jumped at my sudden appearance only to be blasted away by my first strike. "Strike of Heaven! First release! Haruka Hikari!" **far off light**

A wide, white beam of energy shot from my extended palms and the next thing I knew, she was buried under a mass of trees, not moving. "Aw, I didn't kill her that time. Oh, well."

Sesshomaru knocked the fugly back and had enough time to give me a look that said he was deeply disturbed. Jaken was doing pretty well on his own so I did another Shun-po and appeared beside my inhuman heartthrob. "Don't worry, I'm not a mindless killer, this state just ups my power temporarily and focuses on large attacks while suppressing my urges to hide or second-guess myself, thus increasing my blood lust, but that I can control."

"The surprises never end with you, do they?"

"Hardly. Check this out." I jumped, extending my wings so I hovered above Naraku who was still getting up, having too many leg/tentacle things to be very effective at a rebound. "Up here, ass face!" He looked up, grin disappearing as he saw what was forming in my hands: a very large, very ominous orb of energy that was slowly growing in size. "Fist of Hell! Seventh move! Amaya Katsu!" **night rain victory** The orb suddenly shrank to the size of a golf ball and I chucked it at him where it promptly vanished and did nothing more.

I landed, all eyes on me as everything paused.

"Was that it?!" Jaken screamed at me.

I laughed once. "Hardly."

"And I thought you had power," Naraku scolded himself, "guess I was mistaken." He made a move for Sesshomaru but I butted in, like usual.

"I wouldn't do that." And snapped my fingers. Pieces of the ass blew off instantly. "Oh, and they don't grow back. You're life's in my hands now, Naraku. So I suggest you get before I decide to end this today." I could feel the dark energy slipping, changing back to my white-winged self.

He didn't go right away so I blew more of him off before he retreated.

"Why didn't you kill him?!" Jaken demanded in my ear as the miasma kicked up.

"I'll leave that for Inuyasha. If he fails, I'll deal with it." Something came down on my head.

It was Sesshomaru's hand. "Good job, Azralea," he said to me.

But just then, before the warm fuzzies cold come, Naraku got in his last laugh by sending Saimyosho at us in full force. My energy was drained considerably after the Haruka Hikari and Amaya Katsu consecutively with two Shun-po between; I'm surprised I'm still standing.

Sesshomaru, still pissed by Naraku's earlier remark about playing around with me, suddenly let his power explode but also partially repressed it, just enough to get rid of the insects but I still got blasted by it and fell in a bloody heap next to Jaken.

(Sesshomaru)

My temper flared and didn't die in time for me to keep myself under complete control. Given the chance, I unleashed all my energy to kill those abominations he calls insects, only too late to repress it as much as I could because I recalled the proximity Azralea was in. I thought she would be fine, but apparently she didn't have as much energy as I thought left because once I got myself under control, I turned horrified to see her, eyes open but blank, covered head to toe in her own blood from the force of my demonic energy and Jaken freaking out over her.

"I don't believe she's dead, my lord!" he squawked as I staggered over, only half aware of what I was doing. "Oh! But if we don't get her help soon she will be!"

I came down on my knees beside her, lifting her delicate head gently as I unknowingly whispered her name over and over, brushing my thumb over the quickly drying blood on her face. Her pulse was weak, but I could hear it if I focused. But even if she survived this time, I knew there may not be another miracle like this again.

Two things came crashing down on me in this one minute, and one of them was that it was far too dangerous here, even for her. _Perhaps it would be better if she went home_, I thought. Her body would revert back to normal if she didn't use her power for a long period of time, and hopefully she wouldn't have to in her world, so I knew what I had to do, even if it killed me inside.

I was sending her home.


	9. Chapter 9

(Azralea)

God, that was close. I saw a white light! No joke! But something kept me tied to my body, thus I was able to regain consciousness and wake up in the living room, the light dimming outside the window and casting an eerie glow on Sesshomaru who was sitting on the couch at the foot of the bed, deep in thought. But that didn't keep him from noticing I was awake.

"What happened?" I croaked, hoarse and not surprised. "I feel like I was hit by a cart." Bad joke.

"Azralea," he said seriously, staring hard at me with his amber eyes. "Come here."

I was perfectly fine, so it had to be a day or two later, and did as I was told, standing in front of him. "Yes?"

Eyes now closed, he remained silent for one long minute, long enough for me to notice he was in just the white kimono and slacks from that first day. "There's something I want to discuss with you." I nodded, knowing he could tell. "No doubt you life was in danger recently, and not at the level you can normally handle. I could literally feel you slipping away as I brought you inside."

Something was off. He was too controlled, too cool. I didn't like it; it felt like he was distancing himself from me. "Ses-"

He silenced me with a gaze. "Listen." His posture relaxed and he sat forward a little but his face didn't soften at all. "Azralea, I know we've only known each other for a very short amount of time, though it may feel like a lifetime to you."

It sure did.

"But these few days have shown me many things about our current arrangement. It's far too dangerous for you to be so close to me like you are."

"Wait!" I burst out suddenly. "Don't say it!" I knew what was wrong: he didn't want me around. Though, why did it bug him? I figured I was dispensable and that my death wouldn't bug him too much after it happened, so what gives? He already threatened me several times. Still, I started to sob. "Please, don't tell me to go away. I want to stay here. Where will I go?"

He started to shush me, rising briefly to bring his long arms around my tiny body, pulling me down with him onto the couch as I buried my face against his neck, locking on to him as tight as I could, knowing it wouldn't faze him. "I know it's hard for you to think of," he whispered gently, "but it has to be."

"No!" I breathed, sniffing and locking harder. "Why?"

"I don't want to see you die by my own hand."

.' ? "But-"

"Please, Azralea," he suddenly pleaded, sounding in pain now, "don't make this any harder for either of us. It's painful enough that I'm even considering this, but I know it's for your own good."

It was then, as one of his large, warm hands came up to my cheek like he did so long ago (about three weeks -_-') and I pulled away just enough to gaze into his amber orbs long enough to see the kind, gentle look I'd always wanted him to gaze at me with. But I didn't have time to realize this before he leaned up and suddenly, he was kissing me, gentle and hesitant, hand sliding to the back of my head as I slowly came to terms with what was happening and reacted, holding close to him again as he pull me in tighter, knees locking around his waist in a desperate attempt to stay with him.

But in breaths of hot air, we pulled away, still holding close to each other as he whispered to me, "I found my heart within these few days. You've had it this whole time. I love you, Azralea, that's why I want to protect you, even from myself." Then he took me to the big window. "I want to show this to you." He held his hand out, the tip of his claw barely touching the glass as it ripped and changed form the stark white of outside to the rolling hills and crumbled remains of a castle. "This is where I was born." Then he put my hand out and the same thing happened, only this time it was my room. "And this is where you will stay."

Then he pushed me.

I fell through the glass with a cold, wet sensation, twisting around in time to see a few lone tears drip down his cheeks before the swirling white and colors blocked my vision and I tumbled out into my room. _That idiot_, I said to myself, _he didn't even let me explain. If he thinks he can keep me here, he's wrong._ I went and put my hand to my poster. It rippled and my hand disappeared so I smirked. _Knew it._

I took this as the chance to collect a few of my more favorite and intact items, listening carefully at the footsteps in the house where cops and my parents were discussing what to do. They were still looking for me, only because my parents didn't want to waste time doing the chores, but the cops didn't know that.

With the last of my favorite CD's under my arm, I jumped at my poster and fell through yet again, stopping just in time to reach my hand out, peel the tape off and pull it in on itself where it dissolved, blocking the portal from my world to his. With a whoosh, I fell back where I'd come the first time, but landing on my feet instead. I rushed inside, dumping my stuff on the bed while calling for Jaken and Sesshomaru but no one was here.

That was fast. Oh, well, they have to come back some time.

three weeks later

(Sesshomaru)

I was beginning to regret my decision immediately afterward, but I knew she'd be better off in her world. At least I hoped so; her parents sound unstable and possibly violent.

Maybe I shouldn't have done what I did.

But it was too late now. This three week journey was more to clear my head and distract me then anything else, but I knew I had to come home eventually so going through the barrier didn't exactly help me forget her. Even Jaken missed her bubbly personality and it clearly depressed us both to live without her, but we'd done it before so we could do it again.

Though I really wish I could go back and undo that mistake. Then she'd still be here.

And I can say I was fully surprised when I got half way across the yard when the door suddenly slammed closed and a small, dark figure in a dark kimono rushed me, jumping squarely at my chest and throw their arms around me.

"If you thought you could get rid of me that easily, you're sadly mistaken, Shi-shi," a familiar and dearly missed voice chimed, giving me a name I wouldn't take kindly to had it been from anyone else. "All part of my plan. If Naraku sticks his ugly head through our door again, he's got a big surprise coming."

Sad to say I still couldn't move, even when she let go of me to say hello to Jaken. But I did choke out, "Azralea?"

She spun and laced her fingers behind her back, smiling widely. "Mm-hm. Who else would be in here?"

Completely forgetting who was around, or even where I was, I brought my arms around her quickly, as if she'd disappear if I didn't touch her, and pulled her into the most loving kiss I could muster. The toad instantly went to his corner, even though this time I would've let him slide, and I touched my forehead to hers. "But how...?"

"You can get rid of me that easily, Shi-shi," she giggled. "Love knows no bounds." Then she kissed me until my back hurt from stooping over (big difference between us) so I just picked her up, her legs wrapping around me instinctively as my claws dug into the fabric of her kimono and when they caught her delicate skin, she moaned in a way I found very—what's the word I'm looking for?—arousing.

"Do that again," I muttered, "I liked the way that sounded."

She brought her body closer very coyly and moaned again.

I got ahead of myself. "How much would you have me beg to get you to stay with me tonight?"

"Depends on how much you'll tolerate." The closer she got, the more I found it hard to restrain myself. "Though if you 'tweak my interest' you may not have to beg at all."

I large smirk spread across my face. "I know what that means." So we went inside, locked ourselves in the spare room (living room) and didn't come out until the next morning.


End file.
